North Bay Police summer bike patrol program begins this week
The North Bay Police Service is getting set to launch its bike patrol program for the summer months.
Twelve officers have been trained on the bicycles and will start patrolling the downtown and trail areas on June 1.
“It’s more than it looks like. There’s a lot of tight turns and maneuverability and how to balance on the bike, full stops, how to do our job as a police officer with respect to being on a bicycle,” said Const. Austen Kooy.
“It was packed training, trail riding and closing down intersections to direct traffic as a police officer on a bicycle.”
Inspector Jeff Warner told CTV News they have officers trained for the program on each of the police service’s four platoons.
“We have our community engagements officers trained as well, they work day shifts Monday to Friday so they will be out there as well,” said Warner.
The training was provided by members of the Ottawa Police Service.
This year’s program in North Bay will see officers patrolling on trails, in the downtown and also in the West Ferris area.
“It makes us more adaptable for trail riding and to get into those places that a cruiser can’t,” said Kooy.
“There’s certain calls where we have a snowmobile or an ATV on a pathway we wouldn’t be able to do that with the car we’d have to park and walk a long distance, so it makes us a little bit more effective that way.”
- Download the CTV News app now and get local alerts on your device
- Get local breaking news and updates sent to your email inbox
Police officials said the bike patrol program also allows the officers to engage with the community easily.
“We get a great response from the community they like to see the officers visible downtown, on the bikes doing the back allies the patrols,” said Warner.
“It makes them a little more accessible to the general public too. They can stop and chat with store merchants, stores downtown, and generally engage with the public.”
The bicycles police are using are electric assist and can go up to 42 kilometres per hour. Each bike is also equipped with lights and sirens.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
Trump's lawyers try to discredit testimony of prosecution's first witness in hush money trial
Donald Trump's defence team attacked the credibility Friday of the prosecution's first witness in his hush money case, seeking to discredit testimony detailing a scheme between Trump and a tabloid to bury negative stories to protect the Republican's 2016 presidential campaign.
U.S. flight attendant indicted in attempt to record teen girl in airplane bathroom
An American Airlines flight attendant was indicted Thursday after authorities said he tried to secretly record video of a 14-year-old girl using an airplane bathroom last September.
Powerful tornado tears across Nebraska, weather service warns of 'catastrophic' damage
Devastating tornadoes tore across parts of eastern Nebraska and northeast Texas Friday as a multi-day severe thunderstorm event ramped up in the central United States.