West Hollywood’s Deputies Train for Pedal-Power Patrols

After three days of intensive training, West Hollywood’s newest crime-fighting team walked away with an array of new skills--but slowly.

“Frankly, my butt hurts,” said Deputy Ross Martinez, a member of the West Hollywood sheriff’s station’s new bicycle patrol unit.

“After a while, the bicycle seat begins to feel like you’re sitting on concrete,” echoed Lt. Donald Swift, who heads the 16-member team that will begin patrolling at the end of the month.

Theirs was a common ailment among the deputies who took part in last week’s intensive training to prepare the new unit to use bicycles to patrol the city’s crowded streets.

Seattle Police Officer Paul Grady, an expert in the field of bicycle policing, was flown in to teach the three days of classes.

The deputies had their work cut out for them as they tried to keep up with Grady, who routinely rides more than 25 miles a day, as he led them on several long rides through hilly areas.

They spent hours at the Pacific Design Center practicing ways to power their bicycles up small flights of steps, then maintaining control when going down. They learned the correct way to quickly dismount without falling or damaging the bicycle. They also learned how to use their bicycles to aid in apprehending dangerous suspects by braking in a way that spins the rear wheel into the person.

That maneuver proved especially difficult, with eight tires blown out during practice.

The idea of setting up the bicycle patrol was well received by city officials, who were looking for ways to expand the effectiveness of the foot patrol program.

“The bike patrol has the closeness of the foot patrol and yet increases coverage over a wider area,” said Nancy Greenstein, who coordinates public safety for the city. “The bikes will give deputies a lot of freedom, especially on Saturday nights when traffic is heavy.”

The city has yet to determine how much money it will commit to the program, she said. But the city did provide nearly $5,000 for the training and for six mountain bikes, which cost $600 each. Many of the deputies, who volunteered to become members of the all-terrain patrol, had to provide their own bicycles. In addition, all of the deputies probably will have to spend about $400 in personal funds on such equipment as belts, special shoes and lightweight nylon holsters.

Grady started Seattle’s 28-officer bicycle patrol in 1987 and has written a book on the subject. He says that in some cases, pedal power is more suited than engine power to patrolling urban areas plagued by gridlock.

He said officers in Seattle’s bicycle program have an arrest rate four times higher than officers who patrol in two-person cars.

“In a patrol car, you don’t always know what’s going on--you’re more visible and more vulnerable,” Grady said. “But on a bicycle, you’re more stealthy. You have the element of surprise. And as you approach a situation, you can see more, you can hear more, and you can even smell more.”

The difficulties in fighting crime in the 1.9-square-mile city of West Hollywood, he said, are similar to those in downtown Seattle.

“The crime is taking place in garages, alleys and parking lots,” he said. “It doesn’t happen in the middle of a main street like Santa Monica Boulevard.”

“A bicycle patrol is very cost effective,” Grady added. “In Seattle, we were able to equip all 28 officers for less than the price of two patrol cars.”

Deputy Nondice Mason said she volunteered for the patrol for a change of pace, as well as for the obvious merit of getting exercise.

“This is something different,” she said. “I feel that it’s going to be a new kind of policing, and I want to get in at the beginning.”

Deputy Sean Collinsworth, who initiated the idea of bringing the patrol to West Hollywood, has been given the responsibility of training deputies at other stations should they want to start their own patrols.

But first, he said, he wants to get over the soreness from last week’s training sessions. “I normally ride my bike to work and back, but this was tiring work,” he said. “We’ll get used to it after a while.”