Established in 1999, the Bentonville Police Department's Bicycle Unit has grown to ten officers whom operate, weather permitting, on all shifts during the months of March through October. For most officers, this is an additional responsibility they have been selected for, in addition to their primary assignment in the Operations or Uniformed Division.
Each bike officer is able to ride during the shifts as manpower and calls for service allow, along with an opportunity to work overtime between shifts or on their days off; all in an effort to continue keeping our parks and trails safe.
The bike team is a great community relations program and experience has shown that citizens are more likely to approach and have open dialogue with a bike patrol officer while they our monitoring the City of Bentonville's parks and trail systems for crime and safety concerns.
In addition to public relations, the bike team promotes good health of our officers and an opportunity to lead by example by promoting bike safety.
All bike team members attend a 40 hour + training course conducted by our lead bike officers that are certified International Police Mountain Bike Association (IMPBA) instructors. Officers within the bike team have participated in numerous hours of training to include IPMBA bike instructor rating, IPMBA maintenance/mechanic rating, and IPMBA bike response team training.
