No more police motorcycles

Off the Wire
General News

Grand Island's police motorcycle unit is no more.

Police Chief Steve Lamken disbanded the unit about two weeks ago.

"Motorcycles have some good, but they have negatives too," Lamken said.


Most notably, the motorcycle unit took lots of training time, the bikes were used only half the year when weather was good and the motorcycles could not carry anyone other than the officer.

If an arrest was made or a victim taken in for questioning, an officer with a police car had to be called to the scene -- thus taking two officers out of patrol.

The program, although valuable, simply wasn't cost effective enough during the city's current "fiscal crisis," the chief said.

City revenues are projected to be about $2 million short for the current fiscal year that ends September 30. The forecast for the coming fiscal year is even more bleak with a projected $3 million revenue shortfall.

Lamken said the Police Department had already begun to re-evaluate its programs, but that effort became even more critical as the city finances struggled and City Administrator Jeff Pederson and the Grand Island City Council implemented the Program Prioritization process.

Program Prioritization scores every city service for cost and importance so the council can give proper financial resources to the most critical services.

The motorcycle unit fell low in the scoring process so Lamken elected to do away with it now rather than later.

The cut should make a noticeable difference in personnel and flexibility of scheduling those personnel, the chief said.

Sgt. Steve Rathman, a former motorcycle unit member and the department's training coordinator, said the elimination of the unit will have a tremendous impact on training.

The two full-time motorcycle officers and three part-time motorcycle officers required eight hours of in-service each month and 16 hours of training for recertification every year.

"Those are man-hours that can be reallocated to the patrol division," Rathman said.

The motorcycle unit wasn't the first to be created in Grand Island, nor was it the first to be cut.

The department first had a motorcycle unit back in the mid-1950s.

The latest unit was created by then Police Chief Kyle Hetrick in 1998 when Grand Island received a $102,000 three-year grant from the Nebraska Office of Highway Safety.

The unit was formed to target high-accident intersections during peak traffic times.

The use was good for that purpose, but Lamken said he simply needs more from every police unit on the street than what the motorcycles can offer.

Each motorcycle officer also has an assigned vehicle, which is being used now that the motorcycle unit has disbanded.

As for the department's three Harley Davidson Road King police package motorcycles?

"We're going to sell them," Lamken said.

original article