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Bellevue PD Presents Bike School For Cops

Thirteen police officers from five Nebraska law enforcement agencies attended "Policing by Mountain Bike", a 4-day training session presented by the Bellevue Police Department from May 22nd-25th. Upon completion of the course officers are certified in bike patrol. Three officers from Bellevue were there. They were Officers Sellers, Reed and Bredar. BPD offers the police bicycle training course at least twice a year to officers from all over the Midwest.

The officers started with the basics of bike handling and then progressed through obstacle courses, slow speed maneuvering techniques, city riding and off-road mountain biking. Sergeant Jay Kirwan, one of the course instructors, said "the biggest thing these officers learn is that the bike goes places you can't go in a patrol car. You're restricted to roadways, alleys; the bike is not restricted to the same environment. They start changing their mindset once they begin to realize this." The course also covered the unique methods used by modern bike officers including the fine points of safely using the bike to make traffic stops, conduct surveillance, contact persons on foot, pursue fleeing subjects, control crowds, and many other uses.