Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day--and, unofficially, the beginning of the "holiday season"--here in the US.
Although this time is festive for some, it comes with increased dangers. Among them are "crimes of opportunity," especially in shopping and touristic areas. Such incidents include car break-ins, purse snatchings, other kinds of theft and sexual harassment and assault. As one shopper pointed out, a woman alone in a parking lot is especially vulnerable at this time of year, as darkness arrives earlier in the day.
Knowing that, police departments typically increase their presence in such places at this time of year. Typically, constables pass by in patrol cars; sometimes cops do their work on foot. But at least one police department has figured out that sending officers to such areas on bicycle is perhaps the most effective means of fighting and deterring crime.
That is what the Kyle, Texas police department will be doing for the fourth year. The Austin-area city's department specially trains officers for bike duty. One benefit, according to officer James Plant, is that "we can get into areas that police cars can't." Moreover, he says, bikes are quiet, which allows officers to "be stealthy" and "sneak up on the criminal."
The real value, he says, of the bike patrols is not so much in busting criminals but in deterring them. The officers on bikes, he explains, are "an extra set of eyes and ears in the community."
And, it seems, people like the bike patrols. "We get a lot of thumbs-up," Plant says.
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