The Danville Police Department is excited to announce the first bike patrol officers have hit the street.
Residents will see officers on bikes throughout the city and at special events on a routine basis. The first of many officers completed their training through the International Police Mountain Bike Association. The weeklong training prepared officers “with patrol procedures, tactics, night operations, scenarios, and basic bike maintenance and on-the-road repairs.”
The officers are assigned to patrol shifts and will utilize the police bikes part of their patrol duties. In fact, that is a unique feature of the Danville Police bike patrol-there will not be a small group of officers assigned to the unit-but a cadre of officers spread throughout every patrol shift. More officers will be rotated through the training in the future as time and training opportunities arise.
The program was funded by a JAG grant through the U.S. Department of Justice. It allows for street-level community interaction and builds upon our goal of community engagement.