Precinct To Begin Bicycle Patrols

BOTHELL - To most of us, the bicycle is either a recreational plaything or a stripped-down means of transportation in an increasingly complex and congested world.

To Maj. Jackson Beard, commander of the King County police detachment in the Kenmore area, it's going to be the sneak punch in his growing arsenal against crime.

"We think we can get close without being seen," said Beard, who plans to launch a two-man bicycle patrol unit next week. "The last thing you would expect to see coming are two guys on a bicycle."

Beard plans to shift the unit around, targeting specific crimes. One of his goals is to clamp down on gangs he says are terrorizing an apartment complex in the Kingsgate area south of Woodinville.

Three officers have been assigned to bike duty. Each went through a week of special training last month at the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Center in Burien.

The three - Bob Conner, Khris Molchan and Mike Brown - were selected by virtue of their enthusiasm for the new program and skills on a bike. Being in shape was important, too.

"These guys look like the King Kongs of the police department," said Beard.

That description fit yesterday when Conner and Molchan took a practice ride through the Kenmore park-and-ride lot.

Conner, 37, a 12-year police veteran, lifts weights and runs four times a week to stay in shape. Molchan, 31, has run seven marathons.

A former Marine, Molchan has a head start on his "bike mates." Through an agreement with his sergeant, he has already done some solo patrolling in the North Bend area where the North Precinct maintains a substation. He likes to begin or end his shift at the substation by running six miles to Rattlesnake Lake, swimming a half-mile and running back.

JoAnne Mills, executive director of the Shoreline Chamber of Commerce, is looking forward to more of a police presence near Aurora Avenue North in the Shoreline area, which has been linked to prostitution. The Woodinville Chamber of Commerce also is excited about the bicycle patrol.

Other Shoreline business owners and residents believe the bicycle patrol will tie in nicely with a bicycle-pedestrian trail the county may build over the old Interurban line between Seattle and the Snohomish County line.

The Police Department has only two mountain bikes, both on loan from the Federal Way precinct, but Beard wants to get more. He also hopes to attract more officers.

Beard hopes to use the bicycle patrol to fight crime along the Burke-Gilman Trail. Burglars are suspected of using the trail to reach homes they have targeted, and some women have been harassed on the trail.

The county bike patrol also may be sent to Finn Hill Park, scene of several attempted rapes, and to a Woodinville-area park-and-ride lot that youths have turned into a beer garden. According to police, the youths throw loud parties on weekends, angering neighboring residents.

The bikers have their work cut out. Beard said the North Precinct is the largest in the county , covering some 900 square miles and 1,200 road miles. It has a population of 180,000.

Phil Miller, coordinator of the King County RoadShare Program, expects police to get a public-relations boost from bike-patrol officers, who he said will be less intimidating than motorcycle cops in boots.

"Having a motorized vehicle on a trail rubs people the wrong way," said Miller, who was astounded when Beard paid him a courtesy call. "Bicycles seem much more appropriate for that kind of duty."

Miller, who raced bicycles for 20 years, was impressed by the skill he saw when he served as a "guest criminal" at a police bicycle-patrol competition in the Kingdome parking lot.

"They do know how to ride bikes," he said.

He said at least a dozen police agencies in the state have bicycle patrols. In Snohomish County, both the Edmonds and Everett police departments have officers on bicycles, and Mountlake Terrace is considering it.

More than 100 police agencies nationwide have bike units, said Miller, with the number expected to mushroom this year. Even the U.S. Forest Service is considering sending out bicycle patrols, he said.