Officers Gear Up for Bicycle Patrols : Law enforcement: LAPD unit to work aboard mountain bikes in busy section of Hollywood.

The Los Angeles Police Department and City Councilman Michael Woo on Thursday unveiled plans to deploy a nighttime bicycle patrol on the streets of Hollywood so officers can “sneak up” on criminals in the tourism hot spot.

The six-officer bike unit, now being assembled from a pool of officers who volunteered for the program, is expected to roll out onto the streets next month, said Capt. Rick Dinse of the Hollywood Division.

The pilot unit will patrol a portion of Hollywood bounded by La Brea, Western and Franklin avenues and Sunset Boulevard, said Dinse. He declined to give the specific times that the bike unit will patrol the district.

Police and city officials will assess the unit’s effectiveness three to six months after its debut.

Dinse and Woo said the 18-speed Raleigh Technium mountain bicycles, which were loaned to the department a few years ago by the bike’s manufacturer, the Raleigh Cycle Company of America, will add to the officers’ stealth and speed.

“They will be able sneak up on people and catch them doing things they shouldn’t be doing,” said Dinse, speaking alongside the councilman at a news conference. “You’ll see the officers going up stairs, in the street and on the sidewalks.”

The unit is modeled after bike patrols in Seattle, where they have managed to reduce crime substantially, Dinse said. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department also has bicycle units patrolling West Hollywood, and the Los Angeles Police Department has similar units on the bicycle paths at Venice Beach.

Officers who are chosen to participate in the Hollywood program will undergo training so that they can negotiate the heavy traffic that congests streets during the weekends, said Sgt. Mike Schneider, one of two members of the patrol unit who showed up on bikes at the news conference.

“They will also have the sort of tactical training that all police officers receive,” added Schneider, a bicycle enthusiast who said he approached Dinse with the idea of a bike patrol several months ago.

Dinse said the bicycles had been used only sporadically, mainly for undercover work.

“I wanted to do something with the bicycles,” Dinse said. “When Mike came to me about a patrol, I said, ‘Let’s do “

Woo, whose 13th District includes Hollywood, said police agreed to create the unit, not because of increased crime in the district, but merely to combat existing problems.

“There is no new crime wave or increased crime in Hollywood,” the councilman said.

Dinse said mostly petty property crimes occur in Hollywood.

“One of the most common crimes we see is vehicle burglary and theft,” he said.

Woo said he donated $3,000 from his own budget to outfit the Hollywood officers and upgrade their bicycles, which are fitted with air pumps, plastic water bottles and cargo pouches.

“After that, if we see that they are effective, I will certainly want to find other money to help keep the unit going,” the councilman said.