Charity day puts police on bikes

Horsham police are better equipped to respond to crime and interact with the community following the donation of two bicycles.

Horsham’s combined emergency services committee donated the bikes after raising $6000 at a charity golf day.

Superintendent Paul Margetts said the mountain bikes would enhance officers’ patrol capabilities.

“This is a fantastic piece of new kit for the Horsham police,” he said. “It will allow us a lot more versatility compared with a motor vehicle, in terms of access, but it’s also a highly visible form of police presence in terms of our patrol activities.

“It will be particularly useful around shopping centres and community events, whether it’s sporting events or major community mass gatherings.

“We’ll provide training to members so we’ve got a team of people available who will be able to use the new bikes.”

Senior Sergeant Brendan Broadbent said police identified the project after discussing several options for the money.

“Part of our brief around the money donated was that it was to go towards servicing the community,” he said.

“While we’ve had two police bikes we’ve been using since about 2002, they had become old and the upkeep was costly.

“We looked at several areas but we thought because of some of the events we have in Horsham, such as the fishing competition and the field days, that the bikes were a really good fit to provide additional service to the community.”

Snr Sgt Broadbent said along with benefiting police, the bikes would provide the community with good access to members.

“Sometimes when in a vehicle it’s quite difficult for the public to access police,” he said.

“Some areas are too large for police to cover on foot, so this is a really good policing tool – it fills in the gap between the foot and the car.”

Snr Sgt Broadbent said members would also complete bike patrols at events outside Horsham, including Stawell’s Easter gift.