The businesses in one Chicago neighborhood decided that a good way to fight crime in their area was to increase the number of bike patrols in their area. How to accomplish that? The local business district collected $25,000 from local merchants, and used the funds to buy the City Polic Department 20 new bikes for use in the neighborhood. I assume that the part of the costs were for associated equipment for the police? Otherwise they got really nice bikes....
You would expect police to have good, solid bikes. They would need to be capable of some quickness, plus the occasional high-speed staircase.
Having $50K+ a year guys patrolling 8 hrs/day on cheap bikes is similar to telling them they have to pay for their own.
Complete with lights, racks, fenders, and stuff, $1250 each sounds about right.
Mick
Lights, racks, fenders, helmets, etc were all part of what I was referring to as "associated equipment." I agree on the time/value equation, btw.
Those special G-20 bikes looked pretty serious. I wonder what they're like to ride, or to carry up a staircase, running.
$1250 ain't much for a reliable bike to ride every single day.
it would be nice if the pittsburgh police had to have a bake sale to get this thing:
That's one heck of a sag wagon.
