Slow-and-steady bicycle cops to curb street crime?

DCP plans to introduce police patrolling on the ecological mode of transport to a) check offences, b) keep the men in uniform fit, and c) increase police visibilityu00a0

You have heard of the Bicycle Thieves, central to the plot of the famous novel-adapted Italian flick, but now, one of the city's enterprising senior policemen plans to introduce you to 'bicycle cops', to guard the streets on the eco-friendly vehicle.u00a0The Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone IX), Pratap Dighavkar, has started a trend of police patrolling on bicycles in his jurisdiction. Passing an order recently, he requisitioned 15 bicycles to each of the eight police stations under his command. The reason he forwards is that the pedalling cops will not only check crime on the streets, but remain fit and flexible themselves. They hardly get the time to go to the gym, the DCP related.


Pedalling away crime: Similar to the the trend in China where cops
patrol areas on bicycles, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone IX),
Pratap Dighavkar has also introduced cycles to patrol the area instead
of motorbikes stating it will help curb street crimes.u00a0 File pic/getty images

"This rule has been implemented in all the eight police stations in Zone IX. This will help curb street crimes and will also benefit the policemen," said Dighavkar. Other than the objectives of banishing crime and enhancing health, the DCP believes that the mobile policemen will also increase the visibility of the force in the region, which includes bits of suburbs like Jogeshwari, Andheri, Sakinaka, MIDC, Meghwadi and Powai. The bicycles rounds will help officers keep a watch on the area for a longer time. On motorbikes, the men in uniform simply whiz past the areas in a jiffy, barely observed by anyone, let alone petty or big offenders. The visibility is just not there, said the DCP.

"On motorbikes, they just scuttle past the area in a dash," said Dighavkar. On the bicycles, the policemen are going to cruise slowly along the streets, take in more, with more focus and alertness. "While a motorbike takes only 5-10 minutes to patrol a particular area, the bicycles will take around 20-30 minutes. This will increase the visibility of the police and, therefore, lessen street crime," Dighavkar added. Rohit Thorat, a Khar resident, said, "It will give cops more time to patrol. With motorbike patrolling, any transgressions on the street are disrupted momentarily, only to be resumed as soon as the cops pass the are by."