SANTA ANA : Local Bicycle Training Course Gives Officers a Head Start on Criminals

With a cyclist’s helmet on his head and a pistol at his side, Jesus de la Barcena pedaled his bike gingerly between orange pylons that formed a narrow obstacle course and completed the hairpin turn with just an inch to spare.

The Santa Ana Police officer had more trouble with the second low-speed U-turn, however, and plowed into one of the plastic cones.

“This part is very difficult. It takes a lot of balance,” he said.

De la Barcena is one of eight officers enrolled in the county’s only state-accredited course for police on bicycle patrols.

The new course includes 24 hours of training and teaches police procedures for chasing and apprehending suspects, how to maneuver in close quarters, and bicycle maintenance. Before now, officers had to be trained outside the county, said Israel Garcia, a Santa Ana police officer who coordinates the program.

During the course, participants also learn the importance of nutrition, which is crucial because officers on patrol can ride 30 miles a day, Garcia said.

The patrols are becoming more popular with departments countywide that are implementing community-oriented policing programs. Bicycle officers have advantages their motorized peers don’t, said Sgt. Ed Andrade, a longtime bike patrol officer for the Santa Ana Police Department. For example, they can catch suspects off guard.

“Their mouths drop open and they don’t even run because they know it’s too late. They’re looking for that black-and-white (patrol car) because they can hear it coming,” Andrade said.

Garcia said the training program will be offered four times a year. Current participants include officers from the Santa Ana Police Department, Orange County Sheriff’s Department and the UC Riverside Police Department.