JACKSON PD TAKES TO TWO WHEELS

JACKSON -- Police are hitting the streets on two wheels these days.

For the next six months, bicycle patrols will be utilized in selected neighborhoods and city parks on an experimental basis, said Police Chief Marvin Sides.

"We will then look at our results and determine whether or not it's something we want to continue," Sides said.

Putting officers on bicycles, rather than in patrol cars, has several advantages, police say.

For one thing, said Patrolman Chris Muench, one of the two officers assigned to the bicycle patrols, officers on bicycles are much more accessible to neighborhood residents.

"A lot of people see that patrol car as a mental barrier," Muench said. "On a bike, we're more accessible to people and we can talk to people ourselves. It's kind of a two-way street."

The bicycle patrols are a natural extension of the community policing philosophy, Sides said.

"It goes back to years ago, with the cop on the beat," Muench said. "He knew everybody on his beat and they knew him. Today people look at the police car and say, ~~'There's the police.' They don't know who it is in that car."

The other advantage bicycles offer is they are more mobile in crowd situations, Sides said.

Muench and Ron Hobeck will both be on duty during the Jackson Jaycees Fourth of July celebration in City Park and at the Homecomers celebration in August, he said.

"Right now they're probably going to work more in the parks than anywhere else," Sides added.

The police department has one bicycle, provided through the Missouri Department of Public Safety's community policing program, Sides said.

If bicycle patrols prove to be effective, he said, the city will explore its options in getting additional bicycles.

Muench and Hobeck recently completed training in Washington, Mo.

Several large cities use the bicycle patrols, Muench said.

"But smaller communities are going to it because's great for parks and different events," he said.