Police chiefs promote push bikes

Forces say officers need training to do their job properly

Police forces across England are sending hundreds of officers on push bike training courses.

But they say the lessons are about more than just teaching bobbies how to ride their bikes.

Constables will learn bike safety, handling skills and how to get on and off bikes to make an arrest.

One force has even enlisted the help of an American cycling expert from the International Police Mountain Bike Association to teach its officers.

Police chiefs have defended the courses saying getting officers on bikes creates a higher public profile and makes them more approachable.

Merseyside police hopes to train about 200 officers to use its new liveried bikes during the next year.

A spokeswoman said they would help officers to react more quickly and the training was necessary for health and safety reasons.

The public can see the officers out and about in the community and they can gain instant access to difficult areas to get to Merseyside Police spokeswoman

"Ultimately they need to be able to apprehend somebody, so they will be taught to get on and off the bike and how best to do their job as a police officer while on a bike.

"We see the addition of over 200 officers able to use bikes as very positive. The public can see the officers out and about in the community and they can gain instant access to difficult areas to get to.

"It is a very positive addition to the vehicles we have and it is incumbent on us as an employer to ensure officers are fully trained to enable them to do their job properly and safely."

In London about 500 officers are already trained to ride bikes as part of their patrols.

A spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Police said they were currently reviewing their courses which are implemented at a borough level.

She said the courses were held internally and taught officers to deal with routine patrols, street crime, anti social behaviour, demonstrations, responding to calls from the public, arrests from bikes.

It is not the basics of how to ride a bike we teach but a very positive and robust way of policing Metropolitan Police spokeswoman

The bikes are also equipped with stopping devices, such as automatic locks, to facilitate the officers' work.

She said the force had been visited by US police trainer, Kirby Beck, who taught Met officers extreme cycling techniques.

"We are always reviewing our training to see how we can improve it and we had a look what they were doing," she said.

"People feel they can approach officers easier on bike, it is an obvious deterrent and it is easier to get down places like alleyways where vehicle access is difficult.

"It is a traditional method of policing and we look to work on that and build on it, enhancing the skills of officers.

"It is not the basics of how to ride a bike we teach but a very positive and robust way of policing and officers need to know how to use bikes and how to use them safely."

It is understood that officers in Manchester, Yorkshire and Hampshire are also undertaking the bike training.