Martinsville City Police bike patrols making strides in cleaning up crime

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MARTINSVILLE (WSLS 10) - The Martinsville City Police Department's bike patrol program was gifted four new bikes thanks to a $174,000 grant from Attorney General, Mark Herring.

The department currently has two full-time bike patrol officers, but soon up to 30 officers will be trained on the bikes.

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Since the program started in March, Sergeant Chad Rhoads said he believes crimes in patrolled areas are down. In total, bike officers have handed out three open container tickets, nearly 20 parking citations and have arrested two people for shoplifting.

"These are really super effective when it comes to people running from shop lifting, because generally people don't run down the middle of the road and they don't run up the side walk," commented Sgt. Rhoads. "They go behind houses, alleys, and little crawl spaces where the car can't get to.

Rhoads said the most common tickets officers issue are for parking and open containers. He would like the bike patrol program to expand, but doesn't have enough staff.