ANAHEIM : Bike Patrol Debuts in Disneyland Area

Visitors to Disneyland have a new sight to gawk at--police officers on pedal patrol.

A squad of eight officers on 21-speed mountain bicycles debuted Friday night in the Disneyland area. The officers travel in pairs to police the heavily traveled area around the popular destination in an effort to lower the crime rate.

Police officials hope that the squad can cut down on the number of car thefts and purse snatchings in the Disneyland area.

“We should be able to get into areas where (squad) cars cannot go,” said Lt. Jim Flammini, the squadron’s leader.

Anaheim is not the only Southland city where citizens may see bike-riding officers. Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Newport Beach and Santa Ana all have police on bicycles, Officer Chris Kielich said.

Police Chief Joseph T. Molloy said the Disneyland area was picked for the project because of its high volume of both vehicular and pedestrian traffic.

The bicycle patrol “has great stealth capabilities,” Molloy said. “It can cover large areas unlike someone on foot patrol, but with the immediacy of the foot beat.”

Officials hope the program will lead to more interaction with the police by visitors and residents.

“The people selected understand this is not totally an enforcement program. They have to take off the mirrored sunglasses and reach out to the community,” Flammini said.

Officer Bill Dawson said he believes that the public will perceive the bicycling police--whose uniforms consist of a black top, black shorts and black sneakers--as easy to approach with questions and problems. “They can take pictures of us. This is kind of a novelty,” Dawson said. “This is Disneyland, and people do have cameras.”

The eight officers selected for the program underwent special training in bicycling techniques for the detail. Lessons included ways to ride up and down stairs on a bicycle and how to avoid obstacles. “They needed to know what to do if someone opens a car door in front of them,” Flammini said.

The officers on the bicycle squad will initially patrol the Disneyland area from 6 p.m. to midnight. Molloy said if the program is found to be successful in an evaluation to take place at the end of the summer, it will be expanded to cover other areas of the city.