Enfield to add two police motorcycles
The Enfield Town Council voted for a bid waiver to clear the way for the town’s police department to add two BMW motorcycles to its patrol fleet.
Citing the need, Police Chief Alaric Fox said the department’s two current motorcycles, both Harley-Davidsons, are aged.
“They are 2006s. They are 17 years old,” Fox said. “They are in serviceable, but less-than-ideal condition.”
Fox said the motorcycles will supplement the two in service, and that having four is helpful, especially for things like town parades.
“When we have parades, and when we have 4th of July events, and the green closes down, the best way to provide traffic control services for parades, and the only way to get the closed down areas for the 4th of July, as an example, is a two-wheeled vehicle. In the past, we have had to rely on out of town motorcycles when we have had our own 4th of July celebrations.”
The motorcycles, which cost $20,145 each, will be paid for from the federal asset forfeiture funds. The price is $7,300 less than purchasing new Harleys.
“The BMWs get better fuel mileage,” Fox said “The BMWs can go off-road, which is not something I am encouraging, but the Harleys can not. When you take complaints about dirt bikes and ATVs, this is at least an option. The BMWs are lighter, and the BMWs, I am told, do not run as hot.”
Council member Douglas Finger, a former biker who said he had been injured while riding, said he was abstaining from the vote, out of concern for the officers’ well-being.
“I’m having a hard time looking at this. I want the guys to have the bikes, but I don’t want to be the one who makes the final decision to give them one, in case something happens and we have to go to their families,” Finger said “This, to me, in this day and age, it’s too scary to be out there on bikes, including being an officer. Our officers are in danger as it is.”
Fox added that the town has approximately $100,000 in the asset forfeiture fund, and would still have just under $60,000 after the motorcycle purchase, to the delight of some council members.
The council voted 9-1-1 in favor of the purchase.
For more information, visit www.enfield-ct.gov.
