Launch of District 8 Mountain Bike Team

The Calgary Police Service is announcing the addition of a summer Mountain Bike Team (MBT) in south Calgary’s District 8. The team, made up of five full-time members, was deployed on Thursday, May 15, 2014. All officers assigned to the team are existing District 8 members.

The MBT will serve as additional support for the area, which includes communities south of Anderson Road. The team offers unique advantages to officers patrolling the area, including quietly and quickly arriving to crimes in progress and persons in need. Members from this team will be highly visible in and around the community, and can engage with residents on a more informal basis. Citizens are encouraged to reach out to officers in their area, at any time.

Officers on mountain bikes will have quicker access to areas such as LRT platforms, shopping corridors, and Fish Creek Park. In co-operation with Calgary Transit and Animal & Bylaw Services, CPS will be able to better address existing concerns in these areas.

In the short time the team has been on the streets, they have been able to intervene in numerous situations, including break and enters, missing person investigations, enforcing Emergency Protection Orders (EPO), and even preventing a robbery of a commercial establishment. In a majority of these cases, our interventions have been a direct result of the silent nature of mountain bikes and the officers' interactions with the community.

Due to the greater level of mobility that mountain bikes offer, officers from the MBT will also be able to utilize other crime prevention strategies. These officers will have opportunities to educate shoppers leaving their car doors unlocked, or valuables in plain sight, as well as community residents leaving their garage doors open.

In a unique initiative to better connect with members of the community, MBT officers have been attending cycle classes at a local Silverado spin studio, HotShop. During the spin classes, officers have been using side-by-side conversations to better learn about community concerns and reinforce important crime prevention and education messages.

Through this initiative, the Service will engage with citizens in a proactive manner, and create a relationship that better serves the community needs.

Information on a media availability will be sent in a separate advisory.