KENORA - Most of the city roads in Kenora are best described as an up and down hill whirlwind of two-lane traffic that twists and turns from one end to the other. At peak hours of the day, rush hour jams up most of the streets making it difficult for police cruisers to get to their destination without disrupting the flow of traffic.
However, this year, Kenora’s community safety officers find peddling their bikes around town is a more convenient way to get to where they are needed.
“Especially during the summer, the roads become pretty gridlocked,” said Provincial Constable Jason Canfield, Community Safety Officer. “If there a call comes in, we can get to places very quickly.”
Getting places very quickly isn’t the only good part about using a bicycle to get around.
Canfield explains that bicycles help police take a stealthier approach when out in public.
“People aren’t really used to seeing us on the bike,” Canfield explains. “So, we are finding people doing stuff that they shouldn’t be doing while we are out on the bike. Like daily, because your so quick and you are coming around the corner quickly and they don’t have time to kind hide what they are doing.”
While out on patrol, Canfield spotted an individual who was trying to conceal a weapon.
“My first couple of rides, I managed to roll up on someone and I watched them try and hide a weapon from me,” said Canfield. “Because I was on the bike, I wasn’t too far behind them. It began as a bit chase which resulted as a foot pursuit.”
After the individual was caught, Canfield was able to lay drug charges as well as weapons charges on the person.
Canfield also describes how riding a bike benefits police can patrol some of the hard-to-reach places like some of Kenora’s many walking trails throughout the city. One day during his ride, Canfield was able to get to a bush fire.
“I just carried the bike on my back through the bush,” Canfield said.
Another amazing part of the bike patrol is the extensive community partnership. The OPPs patrol bike was donated by local businesses that want to see their community flourish.
“We are very fortunate,” said Canfield. “We had partners in Kenora. We had Dingwall Ford, Standard Insurance, and the Hardware Company helping us out as well. We also have a couple out at our detachment that Beaver Brae High School fixed up for us.”
At the moment, Kenora OPP has four officers training to patrol the city and another four officers in Orillia training to become part of the bike patrol team.
