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Motorcycle patrol must stay sharp
| Thursday, May 15 2008 5:32 PM
Last Updated: Monday, May 19 2008 9:11 AM
Becoming a motorcycle officer for the Bakersfield Police Department isn’t just something you’re assigned to.
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Bakersfield Police officer Andrew Borton is one of the department's motorcycle officers who is mainly assigned to work traffic.
BPD Lt. Gary Moore speaks about the Bakersfield Police Department's motorcycle unit.
You need to volunteer, first of all, because nobody wants an officer riding a motorcycle if that officer doesn’t want to be on one. But you also better have a strong work ethic and seniority over others applying for the job.
It’s a valued position, but not an easy one.
Just ask Officer Chris Bagby, who had never ridden a motorcycle until volunteering for the unit.
“The training school is very difficult,” Bagby said. “Riding a motorcycle is not a game.”
Officers take an intensive two-week training course that tests their skills at both low and high speed maneuvering, braking and driving in pursuit of another vehicle, Lt. Gary Moore said. Then they practice their skills on the street as they ride with a training officer for a while.
There are currently 24 Bakersfield motorcycle officers patrolling the city.
“They have the freedom to not be tied so much to pending calls for service and instead can be proactive,” said Moore, who was a motorcycle officer himself for about three years. “It’s a great job.”
By proactive, Moore means the officers have extra time to make arrests and traffic stops without responding to a lot of calls where incidents have already happened. They investigate traffic collisions and several of them are trained in accident reconstruction, but a large part of their job involves patrolling the streets and keeping an eye out for drunk or reckless drivers.
These officers can go places patrol cars can’t and perform maneuvers that the average patrolman can only dream about.
It’s hard for a bad guy to escape when the officer chasing them can squeeze through tiny alleyways and match their speed.
Once a patrol car enters the chase, the motorcycle officer is called off. They have speed and maneuverability, but they’re also more vulnerable.
The last two Bakersfield officers who died in the line of duty were killed in motorcycle crashes, Moore said.
“These motorcycles can go very fast but we stress to our officers the importance of driving responsibly,” Moore said.
The training and precautions the police have taken throughout the traffic unit — of which the motorcycle police are a part — have resulted in recognition at the state level. The Bakersfield Police Department’s traffic unit was recently awarded 1st place in agencies of their size in the California Law Enforcement Challenge for the excellence of their work.
Officer Scott Lazenby, who also had never ridden a motorcycle before joining the unit, said they get a lot of positive reactions from the community when they’re on the road. A lot of children, and even many adults, wave as they pass by, he said.
“It’s just one extra way of reaching out to the community,” Lazenby said.
Moore said motorcycle officers, by making their presence known on the roadways, have helped improve the driving habits of numerous motorists.
“Undoubtedly these guys have saved lives just with the enforcement stops they do,” Moore said.