Pedaling on patrol – Parent and Family Council donation helps Furman Police buy patrol bikes

What beats a bike ride through one of America’s most beautiful campuses? Protecting and serving students while doing it.

Thanks to a $30,000 gift from the Parent and Family Council, the Furman University Police Department now has the option to take bicycles out on patrol. Chief John Milby said the patrol bikes offer increased mobility and access to parts of campus patrol cars can’t reach, but these bikes also help make officers more accessible.

A $30,000 donation from the Parent and Family Council allowed the Furman University Police Department to buy two new patrol bikes. The officer on the left is Mark Nelson, and the officer on the right is Gator Todd. Photo by Owen Withycombe, Furman University.

“Agencies are always trying to find ways to get officers out of their patrol cars and interacting with people,” Milby said.

Milby said the department had a bike patrol about a decade ago, but it was disbanded as the equipment aged. With the high cost of specialty equipment and the need to manage his budget, Milby said he met with the university’s Parent and Family Council to ask for fundraising help to pay for two bicycles.

“They’ve just been a lifesaver,” he said.

The $30,000 gift from the council went toward buying a Recon Police Interceptor with an electric motor to help them reach a call quickly, and a Volcanic bike, reinforced for increased durability. These bicycles give officers the flexibility to easily patrol the campus’ portion of the Swamp Rabbit trail and around Furman Lake. The increased visibility, Milby said, will serve to prevent and respond to crimes of opportunity along trails.

But the biggest strength of having officers patrol on bikes is how it lets them interact with the community and students they serve.

Furman University Police officers now have the option to patrol campus on a bicycle, making them more accessible to the students, faculty and staff they serve. Photo by Owen Withycombe, Furman University.

“If we’re behind the wheel of a car, or even a golf cart, those things have a shell around them,” said Lt. Mark Nelson. “This makes us much more approachable to the people who see us.”

Milby said the more students, faculty and staff get to know the university’s officers, the deeper the bond of trust between them can grow. He said he was grateful to the Parent and Family Council for their help getting bike patrols back on campus. Now, officers will have the option to patrol on a bike any time there’s another officer patrolling in a vehicle.

“The first time you get on the electric bike, it’s heavy and a little intimidating, but you pretty quickly get comfortable with it,” Milby said. “It’s a lot of fun.”

The electric bike can reach speeds of about 20 mph – a cap placed on the motor while officers receive further training on riding it. Nelson, who served 18 years on bike patrol for the Greenville Police Department before joining Furman’s staff, said his knowledge and experience played a role in picking the two bikes the department bought. The added physical fitness that comes from taking on a bike patrol is a benefit he said officers are excited to take advantage of.

“It pushes fitness – you can’t ride like that if you’re not fit,” he said.