{"id":983,"date":"2015-04-02T13:59:41","date_gmt":"2015-04-02T17:59:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dgs\/?p=983"},"modified":"2019-04-05T16:01:10","modified_gmt":"2019-04-05T20:01:10","slug":"maryland-capitol-police-bike-patrol-back-on-track","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dgs\/2015\/04\/02\/maryland-capitol-police-bike-patrol-back-on-track\/","title":{"rendered":"Maryland Capitol Police Bike Patrol Back on Track"},"content":{"rendered":"

Absent for nearly 10 years, the Department of General Services (DGS) Maryland Capitol Police (MCP) bike patrol is back on track. Its revival was spearheaded by Annapolis Detachment Commander Lt. Rebecca Labs and Sgt. Dennis \u201cCliff\u201d Donaldson, and it will include security officers for the first time.<\/p>\n

\"Bike<\/a>

Bike patrol trainees maneuver through an obstacle course.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cSpecialized bike training is required before officers can participate in the bike patrol,\u201d Capitol Police Chief Mike Wilson explained. \u201cWe already had training for police officers, but with the addition of security officers we needed a training program that took into account both types of officers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sgt. Donaldson, who participated in the bike patrol in his previous police job, led the way in creating a first-ever training and certification program appropriate to the two types of officers. It includes two days of classroom and field instruction. The officers learn the \u201cRules of the Road,\u201d proper procedures and operations and bike maintenance. They practice maneuvering through obstacles and jumping curbs. They also receive tips on healthy and balanced nutrition.<\/p>\n

According to the Sargent, the layout of the Annapolis complex lends itself to a bike patrol, which can quickly access locations throughout the complex and support public safety during rallies, demonstrations and special events.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese \u2018bicycle\u00a0patrols\u2019 are an efficient, cost-effective and environmentally friendly way to police and secure our Annapolis properties,\u201d Lt. Labs said. \u201cThey allow for faster response times while helping us meet the State\u2019s \u2018Go Green\u2019 initiatives.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Security<\/a>

Security Officer Waters, in the yellow jacket, and Police Officer Deakins head out on patrol.<\/p><\/div>\n

For safety reasons, the newly-created unit was outfitted with different uniforms for easy identification of armed police officers and unarmed security officers. The uniforms, bikes and bike bags are clearly marked with POLICE and SECURITY logos.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving security officers in the bike patrol makes sense, and the teamwork has strengthened cooperation between the two officer groups,\u201d said Chief Wilson.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Absent for nearly 10 years, the Department of General Services (DGS) Maryland Capitol Police (MCP) bike patrol is back on track. Its revival was spearheaded by Annapolis Detachment Commander Lt. Rebecca Labs and Sgt. Dennis \u201cCliff\u201d Donaldson, and it will include security officers for the first time. \u201cSpecialized bike training  …Learn more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dgsinthenews"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=983"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/983\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":995,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/983\/revisions\/995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}