Published by the MIT News Office at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass.

Campus Police to Begin Bike Patrol

VOLUNTEERS
CP to Begin Bike Patrol

MIT's Campus Police will inaugurate a uniformed bicycle patrol June 10, 
Chief Anne P. Glavin has announced. 

The new patrol, believed to be the first at any college in New England, 
will be staffed by eight members of the department, all of whom have 
volunteered.

Included in the eight are Barbara A. Haven and Robert J. Molino, who 
proposed the idea of a bicycle patrol to Chief Glavin last spring. The 
idea was appealing and Chief Glavin asked Officers Haven and Molino if 
they were willing to research the idea and draw up a proposal. They were 
and they did.

Chief Glavin, who commended the enthusiasm of Officers Haven and Molino, 
enlisted the aid of the Metropolitan District Commission Police, which 
has a bicycle patrol. Arrangements were made for Officers Haven and 
Molino to spend some time with the MDC bicycle unit. Eventually, MDC 
officers conducted training sessions for the MIT unit on the campus.

The patrol will use "hybrid" Yokota Merced bicycles. Hybrid indicates a 
cross between a mountain and a road bike. MIT has purchased three of the 
bicycles.

Bicycle Patrol members will wear a special uniform which includes 
shorts, knee socks, special shoes, a helmet and a light-weight equipment 
belt.

"This new development gives us a third way to patrol, in addition to on 
foot and in a cruiser," Chief Glavin said. There are some areas where 
patrolling by bicycle is expected to be more efficient, the chief said. 
The spacious athletic areas flanked by Amherst Alley and Vassar Street 
are an example, she said.

The bike patrol will be in operation from 7:30am until 8pm. It will be 
suspended in November. 

"We will evaluate the results with an eye toward resuming it in the 
spring," the chief said.

Among the anticipated benefits of the bike patrol, she said, are: 
quicker access to areas difficult to reach by car and increased person-
to-person contact with community members. In addition, the chief said, 
bikes are environmentally sound, maintenance costs are low and using 
them provides health benefits for the officers.