Multnomah County parole officers at work.(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 … Read more
Bike Patrol in action on SE Hawthorne.(Photo © J. Maus) The Portland Police Bureau (PPB) could save $585,000 per year if they were to make good on a proposal to dismantle their Mounted Patrol Unit and transfer four officers to downtown bike detail. The savings would come from reducing the number of employees from seven … Read more
Portland’s Mounted Patrol Unit.(Photo: Police Bureau) The Portland Police Police Bureau, like all City bureaus, is facing another year of budget cuts. The PPB must reduce their budget for the coming year by 2% (other, non public safety bureaus have to cut 4%). One idea that has been proposed is to dissolve their Mounted Patrol … Read more
Joe Scalise is a bike patrol officer in Charlotte, NC and the training coordinator for LEBA. (Photos © J. Maus) If the streets feel a bit safer this week, it’s because Portland is playing host to a Law Enforcement Bicycle Association (LEBA) training conference. The Portland Police Bureau is hosting LEBA for one of their … Read more
A Portland bike patrol unit at work on SE Hawthorne in 2006.(Photo © J. Maus) The City of Gresham Police Department has just announced that they will bolster police bike patrols during the summer months. Gresham PD spokesman Sgt. Claudio Grandjean says the move was made possible by utilizing School Resource Officers who are available … Read more
From R to L: Officers Phil Blanchard, Robert Pickett, Robert Quick, Police Chief Sizer.(Photos © Jonathan Maus) At a ceremony this morning in downtown Portland, four members of the Southeast Precinct Bike Patrol Unit were among those recognized at the Chief’s Forum Awards — which intend to “reflect on the value of community policing partnerships”.
SE Bike Patrol officers Pickett and Quick on Hawthorne Blvd.(Photo © Jonathan Maus) Four Portland bike patrol officers will receive recognition for their community policing efforts at the Police Bureau’s annual awards ceremony next week. Officers Phil Blanchard, Robert Quick, Anthony Zanetti and Robert Pickett will be recognized by Chief Rosie Sizer with a “Community … Read more
[Bike patrol officers stopped by a Mocktails event in September 2006.] Do you think Portland would be a better place if we had more cops patrolling our neighborhoods on bikes rather than in cars and on motorcycles? I do. I strongly believe that more bike patrols would be a great way to deal with our … Read more
Comment of the Week: A 45-year bike commuter weighs in