Cycling Law Enforcement: History and Overview

Kirby Beck is a retired police officer, instructor and trainer with the International Police Mountain Bike Association. In a series of videos embedded in this post and ones that follow, he gives a comprehensive overview of cycling law enforcement. 

• In part 1, here, Beck takes us through the fascinating history of cops on bikes. Early police officers stopped speeding horses. A bike-based rapid-response team kept anarchists from burning St. Paul during the 2008 Republican National Convention. Plus, we get an amusing look back at 1970s TV cop show Adam 12, in which the officers clock a neighborhood cyclist at 45 mph.
• In Part 2, Beck describes what police mean when they describe something as a “problem”. (Hint: it’s different from how you or I might use the word). He also describes how to report incidents to 911 effectively and how to deal with police who cite you with cycling violations.
• In Part 3, he explains what police need to learn about cycling law enforcement and how to get heard by your local police department.

Beck also gives an overview of the current state of enforcement of bicycle law – or lack thereof. Frustratingly for bike advocates, Beck says,

“Virtually no officers I have ever spoken with have had any kind of specialized training in bicycle laws or bicycle enforcement, anywhere in this country. The most they get is at rookie school where they are given the traffic code and [are told to] read it and memorize it…. “There is nothing in their background, except for the same biases that every other motorist on the road has. So that’s what you’re dealing with and it’s not intentional. It’s just they don’t know any better.”

revised from original post by Tamar Wilner