Seven persons are before the court for various offences after they were picked up by the city constabulary cycle patrolmen who started operating several days ago, City Hall public relations officer (ag) Debra Lewis told Stabroek News last week.

The riders have enhanced the constabulary’s ability to do its work and lend support to the entire system, Lewis said. The constables on bikes are a great assistance to the constabulary because they are able to patrol areas faster than those on foot, allowing for better implementation of Cap 28:01 which mandates the constabulary to protect and assist the people of the city.

Lewis also told Stabroek News that the constables have been trained to move through crowds and spot suspicious activities. They have also been trained to approach and apprehend suspicious persons, and in order to be more effective they patrol in pairs.

Lewis further said that this programme is not one that will be here today and disappear tomorrow since measures have been put in place to ensure the bikes are maintained.

Along with the rest of their training the constables have also been taught to undertake basic maintenance of their bikes.

The municipality has also made arrangements with a bicycle shop to service the bikes once every month, to allow for optimum maintenance of the cycles.

The 13 constables were trained for some two weeks by members of the Institute of Police Mountain Bikers Association (IPMBA) from Sacramento, USA.

Although they were launched on August 21 their training had not been completed, and they only started actual patrols several days ago.

The training included theoretical and practical sessions followed by an examination.

The bicycle patrol had been on City Hall’s agenda for a long tmee but many obstacles had prevented the programme from getting under way. The bikes arrived at City Hall several months prior to their use but missing parts had contributed to them not being set up.

Persons have commented on the bicycle patrol saying it is a praiseworthy initiative, and something other towns should follow.

Lewis said that another batch of constables will be trained later in the year in order to make the patrol stronger and more effective.