The Sedalia Police Department announced its newly formed Bike Patrol Unit.

A news release says the unit provides the SPD with additional abilities for enforcement and community engagement in areas that aren’t easily accessible in traditional methods of policing. Bike Patrol Officers assigned to the unit will perform their BPU duty as an ancillary assignment. These officers will train through the International Police Mountain Bikes Association.

The SPD will engage their BPU as an additional element of the existing plan of proactive policing, combining tactics of community policing with those of patrol to deploy the bikes in various capacities when needed. Mission assignments will include scenarios ranging from parades and festivals to specific, targeted hours focused on areas of problem-oriented policing within the community. Additional possibilities for deployment are endless, but the new unit will be able to take additional proactive stances in utilizing the resources that we now have with the intent of reinforcing our commitment to common bonds with the community.

The purchase of the bicycles was made possible through the KC Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety with the application made by Pettis County GIS Director James Theisen.