Stop or I’ll . . . Bunny Hop! : Bicycle Cops Learn Curb Jumping, Other Tricks at 2-Day Riding Seminar

Championship BMX bicycle rider Brian Lopes has given clinics before, but never to an audience that was packing heat.

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As bicycle cops from throughout Southern California watched his every move Friday, Lopes made his stunt bicycle jump and spin through a series of tricks that may someday help police catch bad guys.

“I’ll show you how to bunny hop (over a curb) and take off,” he told the crowd.

“We’d never chase you,” replied one officer.

“Nah, we’d just shoot,” another said laughing.

During a two-day seminar that ended Friday, more than 70 police officers took advantage of lectures and demonstrations in what may have been the first symposium for police bicycle units in Southern California.

The event was sponsored by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and the deputies who patrol Lake Forest in conjunction with Shimano American Corp., a bicycle parts manufacturer in Irvine.

“We’ve been trying to get bicycles into law enforcement for years,” said Westminster Police Sgt. Bob Amren, looking over several rows of shorts-clad officers on wheels. “Look at all these guys here. It’s incredible.”

The bike cops pored over new products and learned new riding tricks. But most important, they shared information among themselves.

“It’s all about effectiveness,” said Orange County Sheriff’s Sgt. Duane Turner, one of the event’s main organizers. “Sharing what we know makes us more effective at doing the job.”

Most of the officers were from Orange County cities, but others came from as far away as San Bernardino, Riverside and Pomona to learn more about law enforcement on two wheels.

Like Amren and Turner, they were loud and enthusiastic and completely sold on the value of bicycle patrol units.

“The cost (for a patrol bike) is virtually nothing, yet there’s nothing we can’t do short of a high-speed pursuit,” said Turner, who works in Lake Forest. “Yet, we’re the best community relations program going. It’s like having a mobile foot beat.”

National champion road cyclist Wayne Stetina, who participated in both days in the lectures and demonstrations, said the officers “loved this program. They came up afterward and had all kinds of questions.”

Many police departments already have some specialized training for their bike units. Amren, for instance, is a certified instructor in law enforcement bicycle training.

But there was still much to be learned.

“I’d say about half of what we saw out there today is new,” Amren said.

Bike cops also learned new techniques for power sliding--a method that allows cyclists to brake and skid into a U-turn at high speeds. Lopes showed officers how it could be done without getting off the bike by shifting weight at the right time.

Other tricks included “bunny hopping”--jumping completely over a curb instead of lifting just one wheel over the barrier.

But as one officer pointed out, when Lopes hops down a flight of stairs, it’s a trick. For police bike units, it’s part of law enforcement tactics.

“Some of this stuff will go a long ways in helping us do our jobs,” Turner said.

Amren, who once pulled over a drunk driver while on bike patrol, said his bike unit has never failed to catch a suspect once pursuit has begun.

“We started chasing these gang members and they just stopped in the middle of the boulevard and sat down,” he said. “We asked them why and they said, ‘No way we’re going to outrun those bikes.’ ”

After the demonstration, all 50 officers attending Friday’s session mounted up on their mountain bikes and took off on a 10-mile tour of Lake Forest that included some off-road riding in Whiting Ranch Regional Park. With Lopes and Stetina leading the way, the officers practiced some of the techniques they had learned earlier in the day.

Turner said plans are already being made for another seminar next year.

“We learned a lot, but we also had a lot of fun,” he said.