Carnation police get two new sets of wheels.

Published 2:42 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008

CARNATION _ The Carnation Police Department has added two

new tools to their crime-fighting chest — bicycles. The officers recently

participated in the inaugural ride, which they hope will become a common sight

in the city.

“As we rode through the neighborhood people were surprised that

we were out and people seemed to support this,” said Deputy Bill

Brown. “We must have talked to more people today than we did last year.”

The department plans to have its officers on bicycle patrol at least

several days a week during the summer and early fall. The bicycles will

probably be retired during the wetter and colder months.

Chief Bonnie Soule and deputies Brown and Scott Allen were all

trained at a state-certified bicycle school. During the course, the officers

learned how to ride up and down stairs, jump curbs and go down steep inclines.

Carnation is an ideal place to have a bicycle patrol, Brown said,

because its relatively flat topography makes it easily accessible.

But that wasn’t the only reason the city decided to pursue the

program. They were also hopeful that the community members would feel

more comfortable talking to a deputy on a bicycle than one in a patrol car.

“The largest benefits are to make the officers a little more

approachable and to increase the rapport between the officers and the residents,”

said Carnation City Manager Woody Edvalson.

In the past, Edvalson said that he would hear stories about residents

who would wave to officers on patrol, but they wouldn’t get any response

back. And even though it might have been that the deputy didn’t see the

person, the council still wanted to try and improve the relationship, he said. So

they approved the patrol plan and allocated the roughly $1,000 needed to fund

the program.

In addition to more visibility, the bicycle program also promises

increased mobility. Officers will now be able to patrol the many trails

and neighborhoods that make up the city with added ease, Brown said. The

department said the two-wheeled machines would also help the police

navigate through crowded streets like those at this past week’s Fourth of July

festival.

However, since Carnation is only one square mile, the deputies can

still quickly retrieve their patrol car from the station if they needed to

transport a criminal or travel outside of the city limits.

And as the Carnation Police Department continues to think of

ways to integrate the bicycles into the department’s everyday activities,

the King County Sheriff’s Office North Bend Substation has already

begun seeing the results from their program.

“We’ve heard things like, `It brings the officers a little closer to the

community. They’re more accessible,'” said Sgt. Grant Stewart. “They’re

more visible simply because people notice the officers on the bicycles.”

The North Bend station launched their project last August, and

unlike the Carnation department, their officers ride only during the night.

Currently there are two bicycle-certified deputies who patrol the

downtown business area and parks. Stewart plans to add another bicycle patrolman to

his crime-fighting force sometime during the fall.

“It’s a lot easier to get from Point A to Point B on a bicycle,”

Stewart said. “And it’s a lot quieter than a

using a patrol car.”

“If they encounter a suspect, it’s harder for the [person] to outrun a

bicycle,” he added.

Even though his department doesn’t keep statistics on how

many incidents the bicycle police have handled, he is confident that it

was worth the investment.

“It’s a proven tool,” Stewart

said. “And we’ll continue to use them.”