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Highlands Today

Police Pedaling A New Idea

Kathy Waters/Highlands Today

Avon Park Police Chief Matt Doughney talks to Herbert Kelly during Friday's bike patrol.

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By Douglas  Carman | Highlands Today

Published: June 1, 2008

AVON PARK — "It's not like they have been collecting dust," Avon Park Police Cmdr. Mike Rowan said, but the department's four bicycles haven't seen much use outside of special events and odd assignments.

They've been sitting inside the station since the last Christmas parade. The last time they were used for catching crooks was several months ago while Rowan and three other officers were looking for a cat burglar.

And for a regular patrol? Then-chief Tony Velong used to ride around town back in the early '90s, and the city had one officer patrolling from his bike 10 years ago.

"He utilized the bike in the Housing Authority area," Rowan said. "When he left, that kind of diminished."

As gas soars beyond $4 a gallon, Police Chief Matt Doughney said he hopes to get a weekly patrol rolling.

It will involve more than simply being fit and being able to ride without training wheels. Doughney said he would need to have the officers specially trained for patrolling from a bike, so that they know how to ride in close quarters and so that they could get off the bike and draw their weapons immediately if needed.

He said he would not have an officer that only hoped to begin that training in 30 days.

"My desire is to ride at least one day a week," Doughney said.

In time he said he also wanted to buy four more bikes using money seized from drug cases.

The new police chief said that he and his fellow officers would be more visible to public on bikes in the muggy Florida air than behind wind shields in their squad cars. He spent part of his Friday patrol riding to a few businesses and schools to introduce himself and ask if they had any issues. The people he approached mentioned speeders, stop-sign runners and noise-makers.

But a driver of a red truck heading down Cornell Street Friday afternoon probably wouldn't agree with Doughney's visibility argument. The truck's brakes locked as it nearly ran a stop sign in front of Doughney, who was dressed in an Avon Park Police T-shirt and the full utility belt, as he rode along Delaney Avenue.

Rowan described their squad cars as "moving billboards" announcing that they're coming, but crooks and offenders usually don't keep their eyes out for cops on bikes. This is why Doughney suggested the patrols for cases involving alcohol and drug use, panhandling, some burglaries, and noise complaints.

The latter issue came up last Tuesday, when a resident requested a tougher crackdown on noisy parties and car stereos blasting across Lake Tulane and the rest of Avon Park. This was where Doughney thought a bike would be most effective.

"If they think they have to look over their shoulder because a patrol officer might come on their bicycle, that's what I want," he said.

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