WILSHIRE : Officers Exchange Squad Cars for Bikes

Two wheels can sometimes be better than four when it comes to patrolling the busy Wilshire corridor, as police are finding out.

Beginning last month, Los Angeles Police Department Officers Blake Budai and Steve Crane--both former squad car patrolmen--became the Wilshire Division’s first bicycle officers.

Pedaling through heavy traffic and down side streets and alleys from 10 a.m. to 6:45 p.m., the officers find that increased mobility puts them closer to merchants and residents from Koreatown on the east to the Beverly Center on the west.

“We’re much more in touch with the community now,” said Budai, who covers 20 to 25 miles a day. “You see a lot more on a bike than you do in a patrol car.”

Two specially equipped mountain bikes costing $1,200 each were provided through donations made earlier this year to the Wilshire Community Police Council, a fund-raising unit for the division.

The officers received extensive training, said Capt. Lyman Doster, who supervises the unit. Although money for the bikes was donated, the men--who cycle in their spare time--each paid close to $200 for helmets and other personal gear.

The trial run of the bike unit has yielded good results so far, Doster said. Several arrests have already been made by the bike patrolmen who have the ability to pedal up silently behind unwary suspects.

The most spectacular arrest made so far by the bike patrol was the capture of a thief in the vehicle he had just stolen.

“It was about 5 p.m., rush hour, and the guy got stuck in traffic,” Budai said. “We got the call and were the first unit there. There wasn’t even a pursuit.”

A squad car could have easily become entangled in the rush-hour snarl.

Six more Wilshire Division officers have completed bike training, Budai said, but the division needs more donations to buy more bikes.

The Wilshire Community Police Council may be contacted by calling the division’s senior lead office at (213) 485-4020.