THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 12, 1995 TAG: 9505110151
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE MATHER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
Police at the Oceanfront now have a new set of wheels to patrol the avenues and side streets of the resort area. The engine, however, wears a badge and carries a gun.
Team L'Junque, a bicycle racing team, gave a new mountain bike Tuesday to the Second Precinct to complement the stable of spoked steeds that nightly rumbles on knobby tires along the Oceanfront and into nearby neighborhoods.
The new police vehicle - a Gary Fisher Aquila valued at $600 - brings to 17 the number of police bikes stationed at the Second Precinct. Fifteen are used for Oceanfront patrols and two, bought with crime-bill money, are assigned to neighborhoods targeted for additional policing.
Each night of the tourist season, as many as a dozen officers on bikes cruise the Oceanfront from the Boardwalk west to around Cypress Avenue. The bike patrols are effective in maneuvering through traffic and sneaking up on bad guys, police said.
The main patrol zone at the Oceanfront is the busiest of the city's 37 zones. This year, police there expect to respond to more than 12,000 calls. The bike patrol officers will respond to many of them.
As money for policing gets tighter and the demand for service grows, officers are increasingly relying on donations to serve the community, said Sgt. Mike Ronan. Ronan said he gladly accepted the donation from Team L'Junque, headed by Bob Devich.
Some of the precinct's 17 bikes are starting to wear out and will need to be replaced soon, Ronan said.
Team L'Junque - a name that was derived from an insult and changed to sound more cosmopolitan - offered the bike to the police as a community-service donation, said team member and attorney Mike Ashe. The bike was built by Oceanfront Bicycles.
On a typical summer night, teams of police cyclists are assigned a certain number of blocks - usually four to eight - and patrol that area from the Boardwalk west into the Oceanfront neighborhoods. Although bicycles are used in all four precincts, the largest complement of bike-patrol officers is based at the Second Precinct, where they are most needed, police said.
The bicycle officers join colleagues on horseback, motorcycle, all-terrain vehicles and those on foot to keep order at the Oceanfront.
The bicycle officers and the others are following a ``zero-tolerance'' stance for law breakers, according the the precinct commanding officer, Capt. E.F. Buzzy. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by STEVE EARLEY
Susan Devich, left, Jonathan Devich, Lt. A.J. Guertin Jr., Mike
Ashe, Mitzi Ashe and Sgt. Mike Ronan discuss the newest police
vehicle - a Gary Fisher Aquila valued at $600 - donated by Team
L'Junque, a bicycle racing team.
by CNB