Wellington County OPP officers will soon be patrolling their communities on new Rocky Mountain bicycles.
Six bikes were recently purchased from the Bicycle Tailor, a business located on St. Andrew Street East in Fergus.
The OPP currently has 14 trained bicycle patrol officers, with 10 more receiving training by the end of this month. The training is a full three days in length and is delivered by certified instructors, one of which Wellington has among its police ranks.
OPP officials say bike patrols have many advantages over a cruiser, such as being able to pedal trails; traverse pathways or forested areas; and ride in parks, residential and business areas, as well as at community initiatives or large scale special events.
Bicycles will also provide many strategic enforcement opportunities for the Detachment.
“Police on bicycle patrol has been widely recognized as an effective tool among police services,” the OPP stated in a press release.
“Bicycles allow police officers the ability to quietly cover extended distances in a short period of time in our more populated areas, while getting to locations where conventional response methods are not suitable.
“In addition, police on bicycles are more accessible to the citizens in our communities and are a ‘greener’ mode of transportation.”
Police say officers on bike patrols will be visible at community events, “making it a lot easier for an officer to be approached or stop to interact with local residents.”
Wellington County OPP Detachment Commander Scott Lawson said, “We are excited to expand and formalize our bicycle patrol program here in Wellington County.
“Partnering with the county and the owners of the Bicycle Tailor has been tremendously successful. Our cruisers will be outfitted with carrier racks to transport the bicycles to all our municipalities.”
Lawson added, “This is a great way to have officers more visible in the communities we serve, be more proactive at community initiatives while still being fully operational.
“Contributing to the overall health and wellness of our officers is an added bonus. We have more officers volunteering for the program than we ever expected.”
Police officials say that once the bicycle training is complete, pairs of officers will be scheduled for bicycle patrol duties throughout Wellington County.
