IUPD officers attend bike school

A group of mountain bikers raced down 17th Street Monday morning. All the bikers wore the same color shirts and rode the same color bikes. They could easily have been mistaken for a Little 500 bike team out training. However, instead of carrying water bottles, these bikers carried handcuffs and handguns.

The IU Police Department sponsored a bike training course for its officers that started Saturday and ends today.

Officer Brian Oliger headed the course, which offered participants the opportunity to become International Police Mountain Bike Association certified members. The training was mandatory for all IUPD bike officers.

“They’ll have a written test, skills tests on the bikes and just a wide array of things they need to be able to show they can do,” Oliger said.

The course focused on possible scenarios bike officers may face while in the line of duty, ranging from stolen equipment to an active shooter.

In addition to IUPD officers, a Bloomington police officer and two emergency service personnel from IU Health-Bloomington trained.

“This is the first time that Bloomington Hospital sent people through the course,” Oliger said. “They want to get their people certified, making sure their people are doing things right.”

On Monday morning, Oliger and IUPD Sgt. Brice Teter ran through weapons scenarios using Simunition bullets, which are similar to paintballs.

“Today we’re going to be doing some firearm training with Simunition gear,” Oliger said. “It’s pretty realistic training with firearms, as real as you can get without shooting someone.”

Teter said the need for the training to translate to real life situations is an important aspect of the bike school.

“A sidearm is one of those things that can save your life, but it can also get you into trouble,” Teter said. “You are called on to use it in emergency situations, but after using it you are open to criticism from people.”

Teter said the weapons training portion of the bike school is designed to teach officers to use their weapons safely in the field.

Oliger expressed the need to have this type of training for the bicycle officers.
“They will be starting out doing basic stuff. Then we’ll have them lay down fire with the bike,” Oliger said. “It all deals in with the bike. That’s what this class is for.”

Oliger said while the training is tactical, it is also physical, instructing officers how to pace themselves during laborious bicycle call responses.

“With a bicycle, you are using your own power to get to the scene,” Oliger said. “You have to know when to slow down...so that you arrive at the scene and still have enough energy to possibly go hands-on with someone.”