The Sunriver Police
Department Bicycle Patrol, under the direction of Sergeant P. J. Beaty,
consists of eight seasonal employees who monitor the resort and
residential community’s 32 miles of pathways from mid-May to
mid-September. Eight community volunteers from the Citizens Patrol,
ranging in age from the mid-40s to 82, supplement the Bike Patrol. The
primary mission of the Sunriver Bicycle Patrol is to ensure that
Sunriver residents and many thousands of visitors enjoy their experience
and exercise proper safety while riding, walking, or running on the
Sunriver pathways. Among its duties, the Sunriver Bike Patrol provides
directions to desired locations, locates lost children, reminds people
of helmet and safety laws, and informs visitors of Sunriver’s unique
environmental rules and regulations. The Patrol also conducts bike
safety clinics at the Sunriver Lodge and the Sunriver Nature Center. On
Sunriver’s Public Safety Day, the Patrol hands out free bicycle helmets
to children in the Sunriver Mall.
Bike Patrol
History
When Beaty hired on with the
SRPD in 1995 as a Bike Patrol officer, the patrollers were sworn and
armed officers. “We made a lot of arrests sneaking up on people, more
than the officers in cars. We could get there faster and people just
didn’t hear us coming or expect police on bikes.”
me
officers started on the Bike Patrol. In 2003 when the Sunriver
Police Department became the smallest police department in the state to
earn accreditation, a decision was made to staff the Bike Patrol with
auxiliary officers, meaning non-sworn and unarmed. This brought
the age limit down from 21 to 18 and attracted students who were
studying for or considering careers in law enforcement.
Training
Bike
Patrol officers are recruited February through April, hired and trained
each May to patrol the pathways from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
Bike patrollers receive 48 hours of
training. The first 16 hours are classes in report writing, traffic
control, Sunriver Rules and Regulations, First Aid, CPR, public
relations and fingerprinting. The second 16 hours are on bikes learning
how to ride safely and effectively on Sunriver’s narrow pathways. The
final training is out on the pathways practicing everything they’ve
studied.
“I try to teach the officers
that they aren’t here in a badge heavy position. I want them to smile,
to make a lot of contacts, to talk to people. I tell them to find out
where people are from and engage them in friendly conversation. Find out
if they are having a good time and if they need anything. If we can make
a good impression with law enforcement here in Sunriver, the next
experience that person has with law enforcement somewhere else is likely
to be positive.
