IUPD utilizes campus bike patrol

The IU Police Department is suggesting that citizens treat tomorrow like a weather hazard – only leave the house if necessary.

People are moving in, as shown by the caravan down Fee Lane or anywhere else on campus­­­­.

To prepare for the move-in rush, IUPD will dispatch 75 officers to monitor traffic and parking as well as a bike patrol that will be able to go around vehicle traffic.

“Bicycle officers have become a beneficial addition to the staff on this day with their ability to respond and not be hindered by the congestion of vehicular traffic or irregular terrain,” Captain Jerry Minger said in a press release.

Ten police officers on bike patrol have recently graduated from the IU Police Academy and took their bike patrol class Tuesday.

The officers’ intensive training began Saturday and concluded Tuesday with a long-distance trek around Lake Monroe. Training included obstacle courses, riding up and down staircases, power slides and engaging a suspect with simulated ammunition.

Bike patrol instructor and officer Brian Oliger and other instructors were running the training in the woods off 17th Street. Each student had to ride as fast they could for about a quarter-mile up the hill on 17th Street, where they had to engage in a hostile situation played out by other officers.

“What we are trying to do is stress them out as much as possible,” Oliger said. “If they’re ever in this situation, they’re not going to just crack or freeze up.”

Oliger is the International Police Mountain Bike Association instructor for IUPD and is a former rider in the Little 500.

Officers will also be on foot patrol around the dorms Wednesday evening.