Wellington’s City Community Team is taking to two wheels to patrol their communities, prevent crime and victimisation and engage with the public.
The team pedalled up to Frank Kitts Park today (Monday 23 April) to unveil their four new mountain bikes, with support from District Commander Sam Hoyle, local staff and Wellington City Council representatives.
Sergeant Hamish Knight and Constables Matt Barraclough, Jeremy Blewman, Sandy Cumpstone and Ben Hopkins will be the main users of the bikes, but they will be available to other frontline staff for activities including policing public events.
Hamish says the bikes will make them more accessible to the public and help them get to places where cars can’t go, including events such as concerts, sporting fixtures and festivals.
“Having officers on bicycles will give us increased visibility and give the public greater accessibility to us, which is important with helping communities feel safer,” he says.
“The idea of cops on bikes is not new, and we have had them before in Wellington District. However our focus is much broader now - especially in the area of road policing prevention.
“Being much smaller and quieter, bikes give us the ability to – for example - identify those using their cellphone while driving and not wearing seatbelts in the CBD.”
The proposal for the bikes was put together and submitted to the Area Continuous Improvement Team by PST Sergeant Rachael Boyd.
“Rachael put in a lot of the grunt work to get this initiative off the ground and thanks to her efforts it was approved,” says Hamish.
The team had to complete a bicycle accreditation course before they could use the bikes in an official capacity.
“The accreditation means we can model best practice and have conversations with fellow cyclists about keeping themselves safe,” says Hamish.
“Another appeal of the bicycles is that they are easy to manoeuvre, which will greatly assist us in preventing crime such as vehicle theft, disorder, and burglary.”
The team received support from Wellington City Council, which provided a bike rack and maintenance gear.
Wellington City Area Commander Inspector Chris Bensemann says staff are always striving to make the city the world’s safest capital.
“Whether you live in Wellington or are visiting, we want the public to have greater accessibility to police,” says Chris.
“Increasing our visibility and helping the public feel safer is what we want to achieve and the bikes are another positive step in this direction.”
A number of other districts are also using cycles for prevention activities.
WATCH: The following video was launched on the Wellington District Police Facebook page today.