(slight job-related whine) I guess I’m still thankful that I have a job.
Bike patrol!? This is my reward for exceeding fitness standards on the force? Bike patrol? I don’t even like bicycles as a form of recreation. The Tour De France and the X-Games mean nothing to me. The last bicycle I remember that I owned had baseball cards stuck in the spikes and a banana seat.
I suggested to my supervisor that maybe the slightly overweight and aging Krispy Kreme crowd on my shift get assigned to bikes so they can get in better shape. Naturally that fell on deaf, donut-sucking consciences. Chrissakes I even turned in a low cholesterol count on my last physical, and now a stupid multi-speed, knob-tired, unmotorized, Huffy-on-steroids fate awaits me. Please don’t even get me going on the ridiculous bike patrol shorts and shirts. Grrrr. :mad:
Now it’s off to Jacksonville in the near future, so I can learn to ride a bike up stairs and other stupid two-wheeled stunts. Hopefully I can knock myself out and get sent home to my patrol car. Maybe I can get my old job at McDonalds back. I think I can still work the fry cooker.
Bluepony – you should be excited about this! From what I know of Pacific Blue, you’ll get to see all sorts of scantily clad beach babes as they rollerblade past you, sometimes even stopping to flirt with you in between exciting chase scenes. Or has TV lied to me once again?
A question for you bluepony. It’s well known that the bike cops in Berkeley and SF serve no purpose except for public relations. They can’t arrest someone and take them in, they’re only supposed to look friendly and make people more accepting of the police. Is that also true where you work, or are you expected to be a functioning police officer?
No, we are fully sworn officers here in Florida, no matter what the conveyance. I’m not really griping because police have to interact with the community, not be outside of it. The patrol car tends to isolate you somewhat, and I am a firm believer in a police force that serves the people, not the other way around.
Yes there’s always that aspect of PR in anything that police do, it’s inherent in the system. Still, it puts a human face on the law enforcer doing a bike or foot beat in an area, and makes for better interaction. Normally I enjoy talking and meeting the people in my area, and the bicycle will loosen some barriers in that respect. Naturally traffic enforcement and some other tasks are reduced, but I think, at times it’s a fair trade-off in just getting to know the people around you.
My question for you is what in God’s name dictated that San Francisco have a bicycle patrol? I’d hate to have to ride up those hills.
I tell ya, the reward for a job well done is always another job, ain’t it? I think you’re right; throw some of the donut brigade on those bikes for a few weeks and your department would cut it’s health care costs over the long term.
But of course the quality of police work would suffer until they lost the pounds.
If it’s any consolation, the chicks do seem to dig the bicycle cops almost as much as they like the mounted officers.
Thanks Zette and Persephone, I think the training wheels and playing cards in the spokes on my bike will kinda detract from the coolness of the shorts though, don’t ya think?
TV has not lied to you. I am not only witness to this occurring, I’ve been a first-hand participant. Well, in the flirting part. I’ve not managed yet to get involved in any exciting chase scenes. I’m workin’ on it, though. Hehe
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