Electric Bikes Help Keep Police in Charge

As a crime-fighting tool the electric bicycle may not rank with DNA sampling, but police officials here say their new battery-powered “stealth” bike already has proved its worth.

The Police Department in this Sonoma County hamlet has put a 1.2-horsepower electric bicycle on patrol, the better to whisk through traffic jams, stealthily pursue offenders and improve community relations.

According to bike patrol officer Bob Smith, 48, Sebastopol is the first police department to give electric-glide-in-blue a tryout. An avid cyclist during off-duty hours, Smith said the bike immediately showed its value recently when he responded to a medical emergency.

Revving up the bike to its top speed of 20 mph, Smith took a shortcut through a park and got on the scene 10 minutes faster than he would have aboard one of the department’s regular bicycles.

Although many cities, including Los Angeles, now have bicycle patrols, Smith said there are drawbacks to police on bikes pedaled with muscle power alone.

“On a bicycle, officers sometimes arrive at a call completely winded,” Smith said. “This is not the best way to go into a possible confrontation.

“In fact, during bike patrol training we are taught to slow down our pedaling for at least 30 seconds before getting to the scene,” Smith said.”

With an electric bike, no such respite is needed.

Another problem with regular bicycles in police work, Smith said, is that they are too slow when the bike cop needs to get across town fast to back up another officer.

“This is a small town, 2 1/2 square miles,” he pointed out. “The electric bike can usually get me around as fast as a car.” And the battery bike is a lot cheaper than a new cruiser, Smith said.

For most of his eight-hour shift Smith pedals the 50-pound bike, turning on the motor only when responding to an emergency call or climbing a steep hill. Generally, he said, he runs the motor only for about 10 minutes during a normal shift, although the battery can power the bike for an hour and propel it as far as 20 miles before recharging.

Sebastopol Police Lt. Jerry Lites said the department purchased the fat-tire mountain bike for $1,200. The patrol model comes equipped with a “pursuit package” that includes flashing red lights and a 100-decibel siren.

“A lot of our police work involves juveniles hanging out on the street downtown,” Lites said. “We can get out and talk to kids without blocking traffic like you would with a patrol car.”

Sebastopol, a bucolic town of 7,000 set in the Sonoma County apple orchards, has used pedal-powered bicycle patrols for two years. “The bicycles are very good during rush hour traffic,” Lites said. “In fact, it’s quicker to get through downtown by bike than by car. And they really come in handy during the annual Apple Blossom Festival,” which draws about 20,000 visitors.

In several major U.S. cities, notably Ft. Worth and Denver, the fire departments regularly dispatch paramedics on bicycles in congested areas because bikes can get to an accident faster than the ambulances.

Smith, who rides 30 or 40 miles every morning on his own bicycle before reporting to work, said the electric bike has been a good icebreaker with local teenagers. “I see it as a community relations tool,” Smith said. “It’s less intimidating than seeing an officer pop out of a patrol car.”

All officers on bike patrol get special training, Smith said, “so that in any conflict the bike is an asset and not a hindrance,” although the biggest danger facing bicycle officers is the same as for civilian cyclists: car doors opening in front of them in the parking lane.

The six Sebastopol bicycle officers (some of them reservists) evaluated the electric system for several weeks before the department decided to buy. Alex Campbell of Zap Power Supplies, which distributes the bike locally, said the basic system will fit any bicycle.

A battery pack, slung under the crossbar, powers two small electric motors that turn the back wheel by friction. “The electric bike will help you up a hill, then a generator recharges the battery while you coast down,” Campbell said. So far, the company has sold 1,000 units to civilians. “Most of the market for electric bicycles is overseas, in Europe and Asia--there are 100,000 electrically assisted bicycles in Japan,” Campbell said. ‘We’re pleasantly surprised that it seems to be catching on here.”