Shawano residents are used to seeing police patrol vehicles traveling around the community, occasionally with lights and sirens indicating an emergency.
However, the Shawano Police Department’s bicycle patrol has received a boost with the help of a pair of electric bicycles purchased from American Marine over a month ago. The previous bicycles, relying solely on pedal power, were almost 20 years old, and Officer Josh Shawanokasic found those did not work well with his tall physique.
“I’m a taller guy, so I thought, let’s look at some new bikes,” Shawanokasic said. “I brought it up honestly as a joke as an e-bike, and I didn’t think it was going to go nowhere, and we were just going to get regular bikes. Next thing you know, I was approved to get e-bikes.”
The top speed for e-bikes is usually around 28 miles per hour, depending on the size and weight of the rider, although at least one officer has been clocked around 30 miles per hour. The e-bikes can usually go at least 80 miles before needing to be recharged.
“We get a little more coverage throughout the city,” Shawanokasic said. “Say you’re on the north side of the city but you need to get to the south side in a quick hurry, these definitely help get us there faster than a pedal bike. I’ve actually had that happen to me one time where I’ve had to go from one side of the city to the other on the bike to help the other officers.”
Besides regular street patrols, Shawanokasic noted the e-bikes come in handy for covering the city parks, especially when there are activities happening like Thursdayz at Franklin, the Naberhood Block Parties and baseball tournaments. Unlike squad vehicles, the bicycles can actually go into the parks and search for suspects and people of interest.
“We have many parks in the city, and we can get to all of them within a shift, multiple times,” Shawanokasic said. “With a pedal bike, I don’t think that’s as feasible. We can cover a lot more areas in the parks, especially with the kids there in summer.”
Rogue Graphx donated the graphics on the bicycles signifying they’re Shawano Police Department property. American Marine offered a substantial discount on them, and the police department purchased them through the sale of a forfeited vehicle used in a crime, according to Police Chief Mike Musolff.
“A good way to give back to the community from a drug asset forfeiture is to purchase things that will help the community, being out there with community policing,” Musolff said.
Whenever the police department is fully staffed for the night shift, Shawanokasic or one of the other officers on duty can patrol on an e-bike and be able to sneak up on criminals trying to steal and vandalize something.
“We have had a lot of kids, juveniles, trying to get into cars, especially on the west side,” Shawanokasic said. “It’s good to go out there and be stealthy, in a way, to try and go throughout the neighborhoods. You can shut the lights off and ride in the dark. We’re able to see a lot more at that time.”
Besides the crimefighting advantage, the e-bikes help make the officers more approachable. Officer Tyler Thornborrow, who works as a school resource officer most of the year but is working the bike patrol during the summer, finds its easier to deal with people one-on-one via the bicycle versus a squad car.
Thornborrow recalled how he was patrolling on the 100 block of South Main Street last week and met a woman from Chicago. The subject of the e-bike came up, with the woman thinking there must be a lot of crime in the downtown area, but Thornborrow pointed out that bike patrols make for good community policing, indicating that it was less likely they’d be having a conversation if he was patrolling in a squad car.
“You’re person-to-person on a bike, whereas in the car, you’re kind of separated,” Thornborrow said. “Plus, you get better parking spots.”
The e-bikes can be used from early spring to late fall, Shawanokasic said, with weather being a factor. He noted there are a number of police department events like Cone With a Cop and National Night Out where Shawano will be able to showcase the e-bikes.
Musolff noted that he’d like to get the e-bikes out in the public eye more, but staffing numbers presently make it a challenge.
“We’ll keep doing our best to find ways to get officers out on the bikes more,” he said.
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com
Shawano Police Department purchases e-bikes
