Pedaling protection: Success of Erie police downtown bike patrols could lead to expansion

Max Brozell is back on the bike in his second year of patrolling Erie's downtown on two wheels.

Brozell, 28, a patrolman and six-year veteran of the Erie Bureau of Police, has a new riding partner in Patrolman Mike Attalla, who fills a seat left vacant by longtime bike patrol officer Jason Belton's death in October.

More partners could be coming.

In its sixth season, the Erie Bureau of Police's dedicated bicycle patrol has proven so successful in providing safety services to the city's downtown and in building relationships between the police and the people who live and work there that the city police brass is considering adding more officers to it.

"We're looking at possibly expanding the unit later this year," Police Chief Dan Spizarny said.

Deputy Chief William Marucci, who heads the 175-officer bureau's patrol division, said if the bureau is able to hire additional officers, he would like to put two more on the downtown bike patrols.

"We know the community really does like the program," Spizarny said. "We've been getting a lot of great reviews of the officers when they are out on the bikes, handling small issues before they become big issues."

Spizarny said the specialized patrols are also becoming more of a year-round program.

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Its members initially rode bicycles during warm-weather months before returning to regular patrol duties during the offseason. But Spizarny said when the weather turns bad, its members will now do foot patrols downtown or may patrol those areas in cars at times.

"We want to keep them as accessible as possible," he said.

Brozell said he did patrolling on foot following the 2021 riding season.

"Last winter I stayed on just walking, which I really liked. You could talk to people longer," he said.

A focus on downtown

The bicycle patrols evolved out of an idea, hatched a decade ago, to provide a little more police presence in Erie's downtown.

In the spring of 2012, Steve Franklin, the bureau's chief at the time, designated one officer to walk a foot patrol in the city's downtown. The move was made in response to complaints from business owners and visitors about people panhandling and bothering pedestrians in other ways.

The officer initially walked a beat between Fifth and 12th streets, between Peach and French streets, with an emphasis on keeping an eye on State Street.

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In 2016, then-Police Chief Randy Bowers augmented the foot patrol by adding some bicycle officers from the bureau's saturation patrols, or SAT Team, during busy times downtown.

The next year, under former Chief Donald Dacus, the foot patrol went away and was replaced by two officers on bicycles who covered an expanded area between Sassafras and Holland streets, from 14th Street to the bayfront. The two officers worked staggered shifts at times to provide a longer period of coverage downtown.

Belton was one of the first officers on the new unit, and remained riding until his death in October.

The downtown patrols remain attached to the police bureau's saturation patrols. The members of that unit, as well as those assigned to the bureau's Neighborhood Action Team, are all certified to be on bicycles, said Marucci, who is one of two certified bicycle trainers on the city police force.

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In addition to patrolling downtown, the two bicycle officers work special events, belong to several groups that are working to improve Erie's downtown, and work with Erie's homeless population, Marucci said.

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Their work with the homeless, which includes checking on their welfare and offering assistance, will continue in conjunction with the bureau's planned reimplementation of a Crisis Unit, Spizarny said. The unit, which went away years ago because of budget constraints, is expected to return later this year as the bureau plans to hire up to 21 additional officers through a portion of the city's American Rescue Plan funding.

Spizarny said in December that the Crisis Unit would partner with mental health and social services workers to respond to calls involving mental health and domestic issues, and would additionally work with Erie's homeless population and on issues in the city's downtown.

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Community response

Brozell said patrolling Erie's downtown on a bicycle is a lot different than covering the city in a patrol vehicle, because it enables the officers to provide a higher level of service.

"We're in the downtown, meeting with all of the business people, learning the homeless population," he said.

He said the businesses seem to be happy to have someone dedicated to the downtown, and "I like to think we have a really good relationship with them."

Erie police add to downtown patrolsAn Erie Bureau of Police officer who walks the beat downtown this warm-weather season will have some fellow officers

"I definitely get a sense the officers really care," said Emily Fetcko, acting executive director of the Erie Downtown Partnership. "It made us appreciate their work more, and they get an understanding of our roles in the community."

Fetcko said the relationship has been very positive in terms of addressing issues and preventing problems. It's a nice dynamic when the business community gets to know the officers personally, and the officers get to know those working and living downtown, she said.

"There's a sense of safety and security," Fetcko said.

Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNhahn.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Pedaling protection: Erie police may add to downtown bike patrols