CORPUS CHRISTI – Corpus Christi police may have found a way to make their patrol units fit into neighborhoods without sticking out.
Police Chief Floyd Simpson revived bike patrol units this past week, refurbishing about 25 bikes that were collecting dust in a storage facility near City Hall. The program aims for patrol officers to be more accessible to residents and better navigate tight spots in the city.
"They'll be a quiet and effective way to connect better with people in the community," Cmdr. Todd Green said. "People will see them as more approachable, and they'll help police remove barriers to get information, find out what's going on and build trust with the community."
Lt. Chris White, who was a bike patrol officer for two years, said the unit was able to use their senses to help reduce drug related and weapons crimes.
"When you're on a bike, you can see, hear and smell everything," White said. "Our team would saturate a neighborhood, and people never saw us coming until we started making arrests."
The bikes also helped White's team discreetly target crime.
"When you're in a patrol car, it's almost impossible to not be seen in a neighborhood, because you stand out so much," White said. "Our cars make a distinct noise when they're speeding, and you can hear people shouting, '5-0' once they see us and they scatter."
Simpson said he wants officers to use the bikes in response to neighborhoods with high occurrences of crimes.
"I want officers to use them during down time while they're out on patrol in neighborhoods or strip malls," Simpson said. "We'll use them when we can, and we'll pinpoint when and where incidents are happening so we can target those areas and ride during those times. It will give our officers more options than driving around main streets and not getting out of the cars."
Green said the department hasn't had a full-time bike patrol unit in three years. Simpson attributes staff reductions for scratching the program. In the past, as many as eight officers were in groups dedicated solely to the specialized team.
"Now our officers will use this as a part-time assignment," Green said. "They'll remain on the same patrol shift and it will be something available to them and a district captain to use as they see fit."
Last month, Green identified officers that had current training certifications, were interested in participating and who would need training. Green said four or five bikes will be dispersed to each of the four patrol districts.
Green said in the past, officers usually rode the bikes during dusk, not in full darkness, and went through training on how to use the bikes safely.
"They learned how to ride and patrol safely if they go into a chase, how to dismount properly and defend themselves using the bike if they have to," Green said. "Officers will wear helmets, and the bikes will have safety lights. And their bikes will have a bag where they can store gear, ticket books and paperwork."