SPPD Paves Way for High-Tech Community Policing
City Times Staff
STEVENS POINT — When Stevens Point police created the bicycle patrol program in 1990, they never fathomed the success that lay ahead.
In 1990, the Stevens Point Police Department (SPPD) embarked on a new community policing program bicycle patrols. The idea was to create a higher presence of officers in those hard to patrol places, like parks, downtown streets, trails (like the Green Circle Trail), and during community events (like River Front Rendezvous). A police officer on a bike seemed a good solution.
“Little did those who first started the project realize how successful and long lasting the program would become, “ says Corporal Ted Wanta, who is in charge of SPPD’s bike patrol program. And little could they have imagined just what improvements technology would bring to the regular pedal mountain bike used for patrolling
At its last meeting, the Stevens Point Police and Fire Commission (PFC) approved the purchase and commissioning of a new Trek Police Electric Edition patrol bike to add to the three regular pedal bikes already in use by SPPD. The electric-assist patrol bike, being purchased through The Trek Store-Stevens Point, is a specially built mountain bike containing a small, built-in electric motor to allow the bike to obtain higher speeds with less effort by the officer.
The technology is relatively new and only recently came onto the market.
“I don’t have a budget for the program,” Wanta notes. “We just buy what we can with any money left over from the department’s budget, or money raised through donations.” So, approval by the PFC for the purchase was contingent upon the availability of outside funding.
That is when a local bicycle club, the Heartland Bike Club (HBC), volunteered to raise the money needed to purchase the equipment.
“We were looking for a community project that would not only be a great service, but also a way to support bicycling in our community,” says Jeanette Friess, HBC President. “We heard about the police department’s need for another patrol bike, and contacted Cpl. Wanta to see if we could help out.”
By all accounts, this electric-assist bike, when it is commissioned later this spring, could possibly be the first police electric-assist bike in the area.
“We are really excited to be able to have this new high-tech bike for our patrol officers to use, “ Wanta says. “It will be a great addition and make community policing that much better.”
The cost of the fully equipped Trek Police Electric is about $3,000. For more information (or to make a donation) go to the Heartland website page “Pedals For Police” at: http://www.heartlandclub.org/pedals-for-police/