Officers learn bicycle patrol skills

Aiken Public Safety officers have spent a week training to patrol on bicycles . The City of Aiken has promoted bike patrols for nearly two decades. Staff photo by Karen Daily.

Approximately 10 officers with Aiken Public Safety have spent the week learning skills to patrol in the community from a bicycle.

Riding a bike allows the officer a different vantage point than if he were in a vehicle, said instructor Sgt. Karl Odenthal.

"You hear, see and smell things differently than when you are in a vehicle," Odenthal said. "I can smell marijuana before I see it."

Not only can an officer on a bicycle interact easier with the residents in the community, but he or she is also more stealth. He can often see before he is seen.

The sergeant recalled several occasions where residents felt comfortable taking with him about crimes or strange activity in a neighborhood.

Odenthal recalled one arrest where he was able to stop a drug deal before the suspects were able to get away.

The officers were investigating a known drug area when they came upon a parked car and noticed suspicious behavior.

The officers quietly approached the suspects and found a narcotic deal under way.

Aiken Public Safety netted a large quantity of crack and powder cocaine and more than $1,300 when the bicycle officers approached the drug deal without lights and sirens to announce their arrival.

The class is a weeklong introduction to basic bike school, but it's not easy, he said.

The officers are pushed as hard as they may be during an arrest and expected to perform while fatigued.

Contact Karen Daily at kdaily@aikenstandard.com.