Police Ply Local Roads,

Trails On Bicycle Patrols

By Andrew Gorosko

To provide police with added mobility during a time of year when many people are active outdoors, police have resumed their summertime bicycle patrols, with a focus on Fairfield Hills, an area that attracts numerous residents for recreation and its town government offices.

The police department’s bicycle patrol unit comprises Officer Leonard Penna, who is the school resource officer at Newtown Middle School, and Officer Jason Flynn, who serves as the resource officer at Newtown High School.

Because school is out of session in the summer, it allows the two men to practice a form of pedal-powered policing in which they have high maneuverability, plus opportunities to closely interact with the public. They expect they will spend about half of their work time this summer on their police mountain bikes.

Both men joined the police department in 2002. Officer Penna, 33, has been the middle school’s resource officer for the past two years. Officer Flynn, 31, has been the high school’s resource officer for the past year.

The officers patrolled in tandem on the week of June 28. Starting the following week, they will work different shifts, with one man working days the other working evenings.

The officers plan to patrol central parts of town that have much activity. They include Fairfield Hills; the section of Route 25 (Main Street/South Main Street) lying between the Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps garage and Mile Hill Road; the section of Church Hill Road lying between the flagpole intersection and the Exit 10 interchange of Interstate 84; Queen Street, and Elm Drive including Dickinson Park.

The officers plan to focus on patrolling the northern section of Queen Street where many business are located and youths tend to congregate.

Officer Penna explained that the mountain bikes allow off-road use. The bikes’ design will let police to patrol hiking paths at Fairfield Hills and at Dickinson Park.

The officers said that using bicycles on their patrol rounds provides them with opportunities for “community policing,” which is a form of law enforcement that emphasizes interaction between police and the public as a strategy to control crime and reduce fear.

Officer Penna said a police officer riding a bicycle is more approachable than an officer riding within a police patrol car. Consequently, people are more inclined to talk to an officer on a bicycle, he said.

“Everywhere we go, people are talking to us…We’re getting a lot of positive feedback,” Officer Flynn said.

“It [bicycle patrol] makes the police department more versatile, [providing] another tool to patrol,” Officer Penna said.

In certain cases, police are able to perform traffic enforcement while riding a bicycle, such as spotting a motorist waiting at a red traffic signal who is illegally talking on a handheld cellphone.

The bicycles also provide police with high mobility to monitor parking areas, he explained.

If police help is needed, the bicycle patrol officers carry two-way radios to communicate with headquarters.

In the event that police need to secure their bicycle while on duty, they simply handcuff its frame to a stationary object.