Doctor Chris Menton is professor Emeritus at Roger Williams University. He is a bicycle aficionado. He rides bicycles to get to work, to explore states and countries, to run errands, and a number of other activities. He conducted the first research study of police bicycle patrols, is a nationally certified cycling instructor and a member of the Rhode Island Bicycle Coalition board of directors.
He has designed innovative cycles and bikeways, with the goal to “urge people when making short trips to ride a bike. It saves money, is good for your health, zero pollution and often faster than a car in traffic”. He believes that bicycles influence cultural and personal change, “children in Scandinavia and plenty of retired boomers do it. Your will and resolve to ride a bike for short trips can change your life for the good.”
The following is an excerpt from Menton’s letter to Rhode Island Public Safety Officials:
Public safety officers are under dual pressure to stem violent crime while changing the way the job is done. Both are daunting demands. My research on police bicycle patrols is foundational. From the study we know that bicycle patrols are more substantive and provide for more numerous encounters with the public. These encounters are overwhelmingly positive.
Roger Williams University, at the suggestion of the Rhode Island Department of Correction, designed a program to a have a bike reclamation project at the ACI. The plan is to teach offenders how to fix bikes. The estimate is eight bikes will be refurbished a week.
Getting these bikes into the community is not enough. Recipients of these bikes need to be trained to be competent, safe, cooperative riders. Who better to do training than the police/public safety? Traffic and safety are in that domain. Motor vehicle safety control should be automated. Let the cameras do that work. Increasing bicycle patrol usage brings officers deeper into the community. Bike partols provides officers with working knowledge of safe bike usage. Officers on bike patrol should be outfitted with pedal assist bikes. E-bikes would enhance the advantage of access that bikes have over motor vehicles. They cost a fraction of a motor vehicle.
The size of Rhode Island would be an ideal location for a pilot program to try a modest shift in focus. Enhance the bicycle patrol unit with International Police Mountain Bike Association training and cycle instructor training. It could yield respectable results.
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