Bike patrols offer Sudbury police a unique view of the city

This week, police officers in Sudbury and one from Sault Ste. Marie completed bicycle patrol training and fine-tuned their skills.

The bike patrol beat allows for opportunities for community engagement on the streets and gives police access to many places police vehicles can't.

"It's a great opportunity for us to get into certain areas of the city especially in our downtown core where we might not necessarily get a cruiser that will be able to access these areas for social disorder crimes that are happening in our downtown core," said Sgt. Matt Hall, of the Greater Sudbury Police Service.

Const. Kristin Zazelenchuk, the instructor for the course, took specialized training in St. Louis, Mo., put on by the International Police Mountain Bike Association.

"You get to see a lot more," Zazelenchuk said.

"We operate a lot downtown. Sudbury has got a lot of little trails leading to different areas of the city, so we are able to take those trails to get to locations a lot faster."

Const. Troy Miller is with the Sault Ste. Marie Service and has been on the bike patrol for 15 years. He came to Sudbury for the training.

"We get to connect on kind of a different level and a little more personal level when you are on the bike as opposed to driving by in a car," Miller said.

"So that is really great, to be able to stop and talk to people."

The bike patrol program runs from April to October. This fall, the service said it plans to add fat bikes and run year round.