In a word, awesome! Controlled agression at it's finest . . .
The motor officer pictured posted the best time of 1:30. I think it was the Ape Hangers . . .
Posted on 08/30/2008 8:26:58 AM PDT by BraveMan
Getting paid to ride a Harley-Davidson motorcycle all day seems like a dream job.
Except for the heat, the cold, the rain and snow and of course, the inattentive motorists who plow into you. But for motorcycle cops, there’s no place they’d rather be than the seat of a Harley.
“We’re police officers, and we get to ride a Harley for free. What’s better than that?” said Arlington (Va.) County Sheriff’s motor officer Ralph Rice.
Rice and the 17 other motorcycle officers in his department ride FLHTP Electra Glides to escort the president, respond to accidents and patrol traffic. Several of them are in Milwaukee for Harley’s 105th Anniversary Celebration, along with officers from about 60 other law enforcement departments.
Harley-Davidson is also celebrating a centennial this year — the first sale of its motorcycles to a police department. In 1908, according to company archives, Detroit police were the first to use Harleys. Fast-forward to this century, and more than 3,400 law enforcement agencies have purchased or leased Harleys within the past two years.
Activities for law enforcement officers have been expanded at this year’s reunion, with two days of seminars and two days of riding competitions, along with fund-raising efforts for Concerns of Police Survivors Inc. (COPS), a support group for families and friends of officers killed in the line of duty.
Some departments are creating or expanding motorcycle units to save on fuel and take advantage of the machine’s versatility in urban traffic, said Steve St. Thomas, director of police and fleet sales for Harley-Davidson.
“The image of an officer on a Harley is something (law enforcement departments) like,” he said.
Harley produces two bikes for the law enforcement market. The FLHTP Electra Glide is used by many sheriff’s departments and state patrols that cover large areas. The FLHP Road King is used mostly by urban departments. The Electra Glide sports wide fairing in the front for wind protection, while the Road King has a narrower silhouette for driving in congested city streets.
Individual dealers negotiate sale or lease costs with law enforcement agencies, which often ask for specialized flashing lights, sirens, paint schemes and cargo compartments for weapons and rescue equipment.
For departments looking for motorcycles with more ground clearance, last month Harley-Davidson rolled out the Ulysses XB12XP, manufactured by its sport bike subsidiary, Buell Motorcycle Co. The Ulysses is designed for use on gravel roads, grass, parks, logging roads and other places that agencies such as U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, the U.S. Forest Service and natural resources departments must travel.
Jim Polan, a captain with the Broward County Sheriff’s Department in Florida, has been driving Harleys as a motor officer for 20 years. On Wednesday and Thursday he taught a four-hour street survival seminar for officers at the anniversary celebration. Other seminars included escort training, motorcycle instructor recertification and maintenance instruction.
More than 160 motorcycle officers signed up for the seminars and competitions at this week’s 105th celebration.
Polan said the third leading cause of officer deaths is motorcycle accidents. At his seminar, he showed videos of motorcycle cops hit by inattentive drivers.
“ ‘Routine traffic stop’ — I think you hate that term as much as I do,” Polan told the officers. “There’s nothing routine about our jobs. What do people normally tell us? ‘I didn’t see you.’ ”
While all of the veteran officers attending Polan’s street survival seminar have had rigorous training, Polan reminded them of the safe way to park their motorcycles during traffic stops and gave then tips on how to use their machines for protection during shootouts. He also told them to practice firing their weapons on shooting ranges while wearing their gloves, since they generally won’t have time to remove them on the job.
The motor officers also get a chance to show off their riding ability in two days of skills competitions. From noon until 5 or 6 p.m. today at the Summerfest grounds, officers will compete in the timed slow ride to get the longest time while negotiating a course without putting their feet on the ground, as well as two-person pair riding with teams attached by a 36-inch line as they maneuver around cones.
“If you work in an urban environment, you use these skills every day,” said Bruce Hacker, a motorcycle officer with the Arlington department.
Harley-Davidson has actively sought the law enforcement market since 1926, when it created a special office for fleet sales to police and sheriff’s departments. And the company has worked with Northwestern University’s Center for Public Safety for decades to provide officer training.
Aside from the ability to go places squad cars can’t, there’s also the coolness factor of riding a Harley-Davidson tricked out with flashing lights and sirens, Polan said.
“I can’t even count the number of times someone has asked to take a picture of me and my motorcycle. Nobody has ever asked to take a picture of my squad car,” Polan said.
Our local guys who have to go frpm street to gravel to dirt ride BMWs 1200s. Well suited to the job.
The Kawi police special is out of production.
ll things being equal, I would still want a liquid cooled bike for police work with higher performance.
Rio Rancho, NM, where I used to live, and Boise, Idaho, where I live now, also use the BMW R1200s for police work. They use what appears to be a police version of the “T” variant.
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