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
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.