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First National Study Day for Bike Patrol in the Netherlands

by Tommy Hamelink
Politie Haaglanden, The Netherlands

On a rainy day in September, more than a hundred police cyclists came together for a day of training and exchanging experiences.

Bike patrol has expanded rapidly among Dutch police services in the past four years. Of the 25 forces in The Netherlands, 18 already have bike patrols. The bikers are more mobile and flexible in inner city areas. And they are quicker than the officers on foot. The public are more willing to approach a bicycle cop than an officer in a patrol car. This leads to better relations between the police and the people in the community, which pays off in better results in tackling crime. In some cases, the bike patrols has made so many arrests that there is no place for the suspects in the police station. This was one of the results discussed on this first National Training Day, organised by Police Force Haaglanden.

A series of bike patrol-related workshops were held on a cycling racecourse. There was an obstacle course and training in takedown and arrest scenarios. There was a workshop about the prevention of common cycling injuries. A professional cycle mechanic instructed the officers in preventive maintenance and repairs. Bike patrol officers were introduced to the concept of search and rescue techniques. Finally, on a mountain bike trail adjacent to the racecourse, the officers trained with two experienced mountain bikers to learn the proper way for hill climbing and descents.

At the same time the police cyclists were in action on the workshops, there were discussions in the canteen of the cycle club. Bike team coordinators, police sport instructors, and administrators discussed officer selection, bike unit marketing, funding, etc., etc.

Another important discussion was about establishing a national standard for basic police cyclist training. Most police forces have based their training on the IPMBA Police Cyclist course, while others have implemented training as long as eight days and as short as three days. Also, the secretary of the national commission for the police uniform was there to explain the development of a new national uniform for bike patrol.

And finally, I held a presentation about the IPMBA.

We were very pleased with the Belgium delegation. The members of the bike team of the Antwerp Police give the day an "International" touch.

The first National Study Day for Bike Patrol was a great success. Contacts were made and networks expanded. We are now busy putting the final report together for participants. Inside, every participant will find information about IPMBA.

Our neighboring Police Force Hollands-Midden has already volunteered to organize the next study day of 2005.

Many thanks to: all the volunteers, Maureen for helping me to get IPMBA promotional materials, and the IPMBA UK, especially Inspector Nigel Tottie of the N.Yorkshire Police, for the invitation to come over to the York Rally 2004. This rally offered me an inside view on how to organize a study day.

On a related note: IPMBA member Peter de Vogel of the Politie Zuid-Holland-Zuid in Holland reports that his force has recently trained 11 officers (including women) as police cyclists and have plans to expand the unit by another 12 members. He attended the first National Study Day for Bike Patrol organised by Tommy Hamelink and described it as a good initiative that he hopes to see repeated next year. Peter can be reached at peter.de.vogel@zuid-holland.politie.nl.

Tommy can be reached at info@bikepatrol.nl, and his website is www.bikepatrol.nl.

© 2004 IPMBA. This article appeared in the Fall 2004 issue of IPMBA News.