The Northeast Police Division just experienced a surge in the number of patrol officers on two wheels — and we’re not talking motorcycles. What is the role of these eight new bike officers?

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They’re going to be solely dedicated to White Rock Lake and the 22 miles of hike and bike trails, which run all the way north through our division; four are on the daytime shift and four on the evening shift. I’ve been working on this pretty much since I came here [in summer 2005]. We’ve had officers out there on bikes, but they were on overtime capacity or coming from our beat officers. These bike officers are not taking away from our beat officers. This is all they do. White Rock Lake overall is really safe; there have been some car burglaries and things like that, but as far as attacks on people, there have been very, very few. But with the number of people who come to White Rock Lake and the trails to run and bike, plus the people who come out because White Rock Lake is so pretty, some of our areas are not readily accessible by car, so I want to make sure we have police out there wherever. Other bike officers in Dallas are predominantly down at the central business district along the Katy Trail. There’s a training course that all bike officers have to go through and be certified; they can’t just jump on a bike and go. They also have to learn all the park ordinances and rules that other officers may not be as familiar with and cite for things like curfew, drinking in the parks, fishing where it’s not allowed, and dogs off leash.