Police on bikes

I've commented before on how times have changed. Again a local firm (or branch) has donated bicycles to the police, this time in Abbey Ward, saying "We believe these bikes will be positive for the community".

It doesn't seem that long ago when bicycle based policing would have been seen as absurd, and parodied as a nostalgic hark-back to "bobbies on bicycles".

Halfords Dagenham

The article about Police on Bikes referred to below mentions Halfords in Ripple Road, Dagenham. Presumably they mean the one in Merrielands Retail Park (Merrielands Crescent). The Halfords website www.halfords.co.uk suggests that the Dagenham branch doesn't have a bike department. I'll check. Perhaps they were just ordered for collection there, or it was a special presentation being a community initiative.

Police on bikes

The Police on bikes revolution continues apace. The Barking & Dagenham Post of 25 April had two items:

The first says how members of the London Riverside Business Improvement District have donated £4000 for the Rainham & Wennington Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT) to buy seven mountain bikes - and the Rainham shopkeepers association chipped in £900. [I assume this is in the Barking & Dagenham Post as Dagenham will soon be part of a parliamentary constituency with parts of LB Havering].

The Reede Road Tenants and Residents' Association bought four new £300 maountain bikes from Dagenham Halfords for the Alibon & Eastbrook SNT. The Sergeant in charge is quoted as saying "we were desperate for more bikes".

www.stibasa.org.uk has several articles along similar lines, written since the police cottoned on how effective bikes can be in their work.