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The Bicycle Unit

Policing by mountain bike is now about a twenty year old concept. Its origins can be traced back to 1987 Seattle, Washington. Two officers, who also happened to be avid cyclists, were assigned to a high crime area in the city. They were frustrated with the results of patrolling this particular area by car, so they convinced their supervisors to let them try to use their mountain bikes at work. Their overwhelming success started a trend that swept across the nation. The next five to ten years saw most law enforcement agencies developing some type of bike patrol program. Bellevue Nebraska was no exception. Early on, Bellevue police officers were sent to any available training before putting the mountain bike to use on patrol. Click on the "Bike Unit Training" button for details on our current training.

Law enforcement agencies differ with how they use their bike patrol. Some departments have a small dedicated bike patrol unit with members assigned exclusively to that purpose.

The Bellevue Police Department takes a different approach. We use the mountain bike as a tool that bike trained patrol officers can use at their discretion. The bikes are carried in racks at the rear of their patrol cars. The type of racks used were specifically chosen for the secure design and speed with loading and unloading. Officers can quickly unload the bike when appropriate, and be loaded back into a cruiser in moments. The officer uses the bike when he or she recognizes a situation where operating from the mountain bike would be advantageous. Click on the "Bike Patrol Advantages" button for more detail.