Zelie police department rolls out new e-bike program
Two new police e-bikes greeted visitors to the Zelienople Fall Festival on Saturday, Oct. 12.
“They look fantastic, even better than I was anticipating,” borough council member Spencer Mathew said. “This will be a great asset to help keep the town safer.”
Zelienople Police Department plans to use the e-bikes for in-town patrolling, especially during parades, open-air markets and other events, according to Zelienople police Chief Jim Miller.
This isn’t your typical bike, however. These 98-pound units can travel up to 28 mph with a 50-mile range, Miller said. They feature headlights, red-and-blue emergency lights, a siren, gear bags and first aid equipment to speed response times.
Rory Umstott, 11, and her brother, Alec, 7, were impressed.
“I love the lights. They’re really pretty,” Rory said, sizing up patrolman Logan Brink’s e-bike as he demonstrated the lights and siren.
Her brother considered the power of the bike.
“It’s bigger than my bike,” Alec observed, but with some training, he said, he possibly could go as fast.
The bikes were generic models when they arrived, Miller said, but Ray Roccon of Rocconic in Zelienople quickly provided tailored vehicle design and the police department logo.
Miller first considered e-bikes after seeing law-enforcement-grade models at a conference of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, where new equipment and technology — even large items such as helicopters — are exhibited.
After he expressed an interest in e-bikes, Miller said, the community stepped up.
“The entire project is funded by donations, more than $17,000,” Miller said, crediting the Hungarian Beneficial Society, Rotary Club of Zelienople, Zelienople Area Business Association and Randy Hart, a lifelong Zelienople resident. The funds covered the bikes, helmets and high-visibility uniforms.
“One of the primary advantages of riding an e-bike instead of a typical police bike is that it allows you to cover more area,” said officer Justin Reck, an e-bike instructor with the University of Pittsburgh Police Department. “In an urban environment where there’s a lot of congestion and construction, the e-bike makes it easier for me to get to the streets I patrol and fit into areas where cars don’t typically have access.”
While e-bikes can improve police access to the community, they can also make officers more accessible to its residents, Miller said.
“The big thing is community policing,” he said. “We can interact with people at crowded events, improve response time and even work with kids at the park. That interaction is important.”
Zelienople patrolmen Bret Myers and Logan Brink completed a week of training with Pitt’s Reck in September.
“I’m an avid mountain-biker,” Myers said, “but these bikes are different. They’re heavy. It’s impressive to see how much equipment they hold, and yet they are easy to maneuver.”
Training included tight space maneuvers, obstacle courses and even going up and down stairs, Myers said.
Officers on bikes must also be aware of other hazards, including weather and other moving vehicles, said Reck, who has trained more than 100 police officers since becoming a certified International Police Mountain Bike Association instructor nine years ago.
Because officers on bicycles are exposed to more risks, Reck said, “training includes how to assess and avoid those risks.”
An officer on a bike is always backed up by an officer in a vehicle, Myers said.
The borough has invested in those vehicles as well, by approving $279,346.95 in funding to purchase three police interceptor SUVs and one police responder pickup at its Sept. 30 meeting.
