photo by: Contributed

Lawrence Police Officers went through International Police Mountain Bike Association training program this week.

For over 20 years, the Lawrence Police Department has trained officers in specialized skills and tactics to help them patrol the community more effectively on two wheels.

In doing so, the department has used the International Police Mountain Bike Association for its cyclist training certification. It offers a core police, EMS or security cyclist course that covers skills like handling obstacles, patrol procedures, emergency tactics and more. Officers have to complete written and practical exams to receive their certification.

“Instead of putting somebody on a bicycle and telling them to go out there and be a police officer, we give them the training that they need,” Hogue said. “And they require 32 hours for us to get certified.”

The department deploys officers on bikes all over the city as staffing allows, and now the department will have 13 officers certified in their bike training. Hogue said that while most people know how to ride a bike, there are unique challenges that go with riding a bicycle in uniform.

photo by: Contributed

Lawrence Police Officers went through International Police Mountain Bike Association training program this week.

“So one, you have the extra weight,” Hogue said. “You have a loaded firearm on your side, and in addition to riding a bike, we’re either doing crowd control, enforcing the law or just simply engaging with the community, (but) you’re much more approachable on a bike than you are in a patrol car.”

The training teaches officers how to do a variety of different skills on the bike they may not have been able to before, Hogue said.

“Most people do not know how to do low-speed maneuvers, and so we actually do cone courses to demonstrate the skill of low-speed riding,” Hogue said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anybody on the first day be able to do the low-speed skills … And so one of the reasons that low-speed is important is because we could be in crowds.”

Hogue said that oftentimes, people are more used to riding bikes by themselves, but the training helps them learn how to ride with multiple people in front or behind them while navigating traffic.

“It’s learning to ride with other people while learning to navigate traffic, how we handle if there’s four people riding, six people riding, eight people riding, there’s a pattern to how we go from doubles to singles,” Hogue said. ” … And then obviously obstacles come into play when you’re on a bike and there’s multiple people.”

For example, Hogue said if he’s the front cyclist, he can see obstacles like a pothole, construction or something coming, so the officers will work on communication and where they need to be, whether that’s in singles or doubles to avoid the hazard.

Hogue said officers also have to learn nighttime riding, learn how to ride up and down stairs and other evasive maneuvers like avoiding somebody opening a car door on you while cycling down the street.

photo by: Contributed

Lawrence Police Officers went through International Police Mountain Bike Association training program this week.

Hogue said the bikes have been helpful because officers are able to see and hear things they wouldn’t be able to in a patrol car.

“We have interrupted auto burglaries where we’ve been out on bikes and heard the breaking glass or something like that,” Hogue said. ” … In my time, there were two different times where we had neighborhoods where auto burglaries were happening during the night, and so we deployed officers on bikes to the neighborhoods.”

Hogue added that the bikes have also been helpful for traffic enforcement, particularly in the more congested areas like Massachusetts Street.

“There are times where it’s easier for us to get through traffic through the crowd than it is for a patrol car, and we’re able to respond faster,” Hogue said.