Schenectady Police Department adds police e-bikes

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. ( NEWS10 ) — Police officers in Schenectady are riding around in a new vehicle — one that’s smaller, less bulky and one that only some officers are allowed to ride on. Switching from four wheels to two wheels, the Schenectady Police Department introduced new electric police bikes about a month ago.

“The ebike really adds a whole other element to bicycle officers, which we’ve had for quite a few years now,” said Schenectady Police Lieutenant Ryan Macherone.

The department added four new e-bikes, which will replace some of the regular bicycles that they previously had. Officers such as those in downtown, traffic enforcement and community engagement can be trained to ride the e-bike.

Many officers, including Andrew Matturro said the bike makes a big difference in his day-to-day on the job.

“At the very least it helps us to respond to calls a lot faster, but also with the terrain, it’s a lot easier to navigate throughout the park and some of the city streets,” said Andrew Matturro, patrolman with the Schenectady Police Department.

The officers brought in Class two e-bikes, which can travel up to 20 miles per hour. Additionally, the same rules apply, officers must wear their helmets and cannot travel on roads with speed limits over 30 miles per hour.

“For us, in the city here that covers pretty much all of our roadways” – Lt. Macherone

But the e-bikes aren’t just to help on the roads. Many parts of Schenectady require police to get out of their cars to investigate. With the e-bikes, that problem is eliminated.

“Throughout Schenectady, we have plenty of bike trails and public parks where most of the average patrol cars can’t get to and even at some points, the old bikes we used to have couldn’t get through either,” said Officer Matturro.

Now, with more e-bikes pedalling onto the roads, officers said its important for people to stay alert.

“Throughout cities and even in suburbs, we’re seeing more and more e-bikes that are out there, so getting the word out, not only that we’re using them, but how to safely use them is really important,” said Lt. Macherone.

Along with the safety, Lt. Macherone said it had been a challenge for officers to engage with the community while inside large cars. Now, he hopes this can change.

“I think they’re a really valuable tool for us, from a community engagement perspective, it puts officers on bicycles gets them out of cars gets them moving around,” said Lt. Macherone.

The Schenectady Police Department is unsure if they’ll be expanding the number of e-bikes they have in the future.

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