With the arrival of spring, Campus Safety will be trying something new: bicycle
patrols.
Plans are to have at least two officers on bikes starting in April, said William
Sickinger, director of Campus Safety.
The goal of the bike patrols is to enable officers to be “more interactive with
the campus community,” he said. “They will be able to talk with people instead
of patrolling in a car — lessening the risk of tunnel vision.”
The bike patrol is not intended to replace the automobile, which will continue to be
used for patrols and emergencies.
But bikes will give ready access to most parts of campus, which has been designed
largely for pedestrian traffic. In some cases, an officer on a bike can respond more
quickly than one in a car, Sickinger noted.
Plans are to have at least two officers assigned to bikes, one for the day shift, the
other for evening, he said.
Bike patrols also can be effective in building community relations in the Seward-West
neighborhood, where the College has launched the Union-Schenectady Initiative and where
the Campus Safety office is to be relocated, Sickinger said.
Officers are excited about the bike patrols, Sickinger said. “I expect there may
be some competition over who gets assigned to it.”