(Still from video. Watch it below)
As Portland Mercury reporter Sarah Mirk shared back in May, Multnomah County’s parole officers that work cases downtown now use bicycles for their regular patrols. Today the County unveiled an in-house video of the officers in action.
According to the County’s Community Justice District Manager Pat Schreiner, the bike patrols are a six month pilot program. To get the patrols started, the Portland Police Bureau donated bike training and certification for four parole officers.
Besides the more positive community interactions bike-mounted officers have with their clients, Schreiner says one unexpected benefit of the bike patrol program is that they’re “not driving cars, burning gasoline, and finding places to park. With bicycles, it’s a healthy, green alternative for our officers to get around.” A staffer with the non-profit transitional housing and services organization Central City Concern said having officers on bikes is preferable to cars because the latter can be “intimidating” to clients.
Kudos to the County for embracing the power of bicycles as community building tools and as more efficient, affordable and sensible options for some of their patrols.
Watch the video below…