After about four months of organization and training, the Miami Township Police Department has placed four more patrol tires where the rubber meets the road, but Lt. Steve Rogers said that the tires on these “district cars” are a little more independent of each other. The four tires represent two motorcycles, which began service about two weeks ago, and said Lt. Rogers, they have already shown their worth.
“These are ‘district cars,'” said Lt. Rogers. “They are out on patrol like a car, and can do anything that a regular car can do. They can take reports, but they can’t transport a prisoner. So far, it’s worked well. They’ve handled calls from lockouts to mailbox damaging and car crashes.”
According to Lt. Rogers, the bikes came from Eastgate Harley Davidson, which presented Miami Township with a deal they couldn’t refuse. Similar to a deal worked out with the Clermont County Sheriff’s Department two years ago, the two new cycles were leased for a dollar each for one year’s service. To have leased them regularly, said Lt. Rogers, would have cost over $300 each a month, making the department very grateful for the helping hand.
“We went through Eastgate Harley Davidson,” said Lt. Rogers. “They gave them to us for a dollar a year. We just had to pay for the equipment to outfit the bikes, which was about $3,500 each. The good thing about that is, if we get another lease, we can just transfer that equipment over to the next bike. We also had to outfit the officers, which was roughly about $1,500 per officer. The first year was the biggest expense because of that.”
Although mainly used during the day, the motorcycles and their drivers, Officers Gary Roush and Scott Ball, will be available for special duties, such as neighborhood patrols during trick or treat later this month. Otherwise, the cycles have a lot of advantages over the regular police cruisers, especially when it comes to the cost of gas.
“One big advantage is the cost to operate the bike,” said Lt. Rogers. “They get about 44 miles per gallon while the car only gets 12 or 13. Plus, if we have traffic problems, they can zip around cars and through medians faster. It’s safer for a motorcycle to go off the side than it is a cruiser, and they can weave through traffic. They can also easily enter any area of the bike trail. Another plus is we have a speed problem on residential streets, and when we stick a cruiser there, they see it and it slows them down, but we don’t catch them. With motorcycles, they are less exposed and sometimes they don’t see them and slow down.”
Roush and Ball, both experienced motorcyclists, attended a two-week training course for police cycle patrols, which Roush said helped them become better drivers.
“Mainly they focused on slow speed maneuvering,” said Roush. “There was some high speed maneuvering and braking as well. Everything was duty related. Scott and I being experienced motorcyclists, we had to unlearn a lot of things. Police riding is much different. This has made us both much better riders.”
Both officer said that the bikes should prove invaluable during traffic backups, where they can get to the scene much faster than a larger car or truck. That will help clear out big accidents faster and get ambulances and fire trucks to the scene faster, potentially saving lives. However, weather and the lack of a computer can make the cycle patrol a little challenging at times, but the good outweighs the bad.
“People don’t see you, which can also be an advantage,” said Roush. “The first day I had it out, I was tooling down the interchange at 55 mph and people were just whipping past me. They don’t see you as a police vehicle. It’s hard to see motorcycles sometimes, and are more apt to be themselves, which is sometimes bad for them. A big challenge is also riding safely and being observant to other people’s violations at the same time. You have to concentrate on safety and keeping on those two wheels.”
Ball said that the biggest problem comes when an arrest needs to be made. Should a cycle patrol make the arrest, then the officer will need to detain the prisoner on the scene until a patrol car can arrive to assist.
“The big thing against us is we can’t transport a prisoner,” said Ball. “You hate to stick your fellow officer with your prisoner, but it’s going to happen. We answer alarm drops, lockouts, auto accidents. Anything a cruiser goes to, we can do.”
Additionally, the motorcycles are also proving to be a big hit for public relations for the department. Being out in the open makes approaching officers easier, and according to Ball, kids can’t resist those bikes.
“I’ve been riding motorcycles since I’ve been old enough to ride a bike,” said Ball. “This has been great. We mostly concentrate on neighborhoods, where we have most of our speeding issues. And the kids, they see it and love it.”
Roush said that his morning school bus route patrols have also attracted a lot of admiration from the youngsters.
“Kids love it,” said Roush. “I follow a bus route each morning. I’ll stop at a bus stop and see if anyone drives past the bus. People don’t see me sitting there. The kids always want to come and talk to you, and people will sometimes give me the thumbs up as they ride by.”