Arlington Police Complete Intensive Bicycle Training Program

For Immediate Release
Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: john@jgpr.net

Captain Richard Flynn, PIO
Office Phone: 781-316-3907
Cell Phone: 781-844-1224
Email: rflynn@town.arlington.ma.us

Arlington Police Complete Intensive Bicycle Training Program

11 Officers Complete 24-Hour C.O.B.W.E.B. Course

ARLINGTON – Police Chief Frederick Ryan is pleased to announce that 11 members of the Arlington Police Department have successfully completed an intensive bicycling training regimen, aimed at maximizing their skills with two wheels.
Bicycle police might make it look easy, but in Arlington, officers are putting their new Cops on Bicycles with Education for Bicyclists (C.O.B.W.E.B.) training to the test after completing a 24-hour course earlier this month.

“As we get into the warmer months, our bicycle patrols become an extremely important part of our community policing efforts, and they are a valuable tool in our crime fighting arsenals. C.O.B.W.E.B. training helps ensure that our officers are among the safest and most skilled in the Commonwealth,” Chief Ryan said. “Bicycling is a very important part of our community in Arlington, and the advanced level of training provided to our officers will help make keep people safe.”

The course included classroom and on-the-road training, as well as an exam, which all 11 officers passed. The course covered fitness and nutrition, three types of bicycle mounts, various bicycle dismounts, rapid mounting and pursuit, various riding methods, tactics for patrol, and officer safety, including safe approaches to suspicious subjects.

The officers then had to prove that they could properly handle a bicycle under the most stressful conditions they encounter on patrol during an exhausting obstacle course, which ended with a mock arrest.

The class also taught the officers how to interact with the community while on their bicycles, as their bike uniforms and mode of transportation often seem more approachable to the public. In addition to being fit, motivated, and proactive, the new officers were also deemed good at interacting with the community and well developed in their law enforcement skills before being chosen to undergo the training.

The officers who successfully completed the training were: Michael Hogan, Matt Riley, Will Milner, Steve Conroy, Alex Stotik, Brendan Flynn, Michael Foley, Bryan White, Robert Smith, TJ Kelly, and John Costa.

C.O.B.W.E.B. is an organization based in Massachusetts that is dedicated to the training and educating of police bicyclists. This was a special training session conducted just for Arlington Police.

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