It was National Night Out tonight. Last year the fire truck came to visit, and this year was no exception. The kids go wild for it — they love the flashing lights, the sirens, the color red. Later, I was surprised when two more of Minneapolis’s finest showed up. On bicycle! Yes, two bike cops showed up. The funny part was that they were not mobbed by the kids so much as the adults. In a neighborhood of property-owning cyclists, police officers on bicycles are about as exciting as an ice cream truck.
They were riding Trek mountain bikes, and the interesting thing is that the bikes are gifts from the Republican National Committee. The officers said that 60 have been provided by the RNC for Minneapolis, and 60 more for St. Paul to help local police provide law and order during the convention. The bikes looked pretty nice: front suspension, disc brakes, SRAM components. The only thing is it sounds like there’s no plan to maintain the bikes. It’d be nice to see them well-tended and to see more police officers on bikes following the convention. Bicycle police are especially good for patrolling hard-to-reach places and are sorely needed to improve safety in the Greenway after dark. Here’s hoping they stick around, just like the Humana bikes.
