Beckley City Police officers, Jamie Blume, left, and Josh Stewart, are doing bike patrol on the Rails to Trails.
BECKLEY, W.Va. — The Beckley Police Department is rolling out a new set of bike patrols in an effort to keep improving relations between the department and the community.
If you pay attention to the Uptown Beckley area, you just might see one of the officers cruising around and mingling with the public.
“It’s easy for a person to not have personal contact when you’re in a car,” Chief Lonnie Christian said. “It’s almost a barrier. When guys are on bikes, the bike becomes a talking point.”
It had been about 15 years since the BPD had bike patrols, Christian said. It just seemed like people didn’t see the benefits that the patrols bring, he added.
“The bike is very accessible, in more ways than one,” Christian said. “They can go down alleyways and on the Rails to Trails to interact with cyclists and walkers that frequent the area.
The addition of bike patrols is another mark of the department trying to be more proactive…
