The Saskatoon police bike unit is out on the road for another season.
“You’re a lot more approachable. You remove the barrier of the police car and everybody has ridden a bike or has a bike so you immediately have something in common,” said Cst. Derek Petrovicz, a 10 year veteran with Saskatoon Police Service.
Saskatoon police launched the unit in 1992 and today it’s made up of 16 constables and two sergeants who patrol the downtown area.
“Reducing crime is the end goal, but through different means. It’s more about being visible to the public,” said Cst. Brent Vanthuyne, who is in his second year with bike unit.
Both Vanthuyne and Petrovicz said the bikes have their own benefits to putting the brakes on crime.
“It’s a different style of policing. You’re not necessarily going call to call. You’re usually getting to calls before they’ve been reported,” said Vanthuyne.
“We are able to go places where the police cars can’t,” said Petrovicz. “We go where the bad guys don’t think we can get to. We end up rolling up on a lot of crimes in progress.”
“We can catch pretty much anybody because they have to stop for lights and we can get through alleys and move through traffic a lot quicker than a car can downtown.”
The bike unit is also used in keeping crowds safe at special events, such as parades, Canada Day and the Ex.
As for when the snow falls, the unit spends most of their time on foot patrol.
Rain or shine, officers will pedal anywhere from 30 upwards to 100 km per shift, but not without a few bumps and bruises along the way.
“I think all of us that are currently on the unit have experienced a few injuries: stitches, bruised ribs, things like that,” laughed Petrovicz.