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May 02, 2009
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The city, located in southeastern Korea, introduced its new 11-member bicycle unit to the public during an inauguration on Thursday. The team, which uses mountain bikes as its main means of transportation, will focus on crime prevention, security at events and rallies, and traffic control, the Ulsan Metropolitan Police Agency said. Many cities across the world employ police units that patrol on horseback or bikes, as they provide greater mobility in some areas than on foot or in cars. In Korea, however, it’s much less common. Ulsan’s move represents the country’s first police bicycle unit started by a major metropolitan police agency, though some smaller precincts have initiated similar efforts over the years. “It is much better and much more efficient to use bikes when going through narrow back streets and downtown roads where traffic is normally jammed,” Lee Chul-soo, an officer in the agency’s public safety division, said. “Bikes are also useful to get close to criminals quietly.” The city will deploy the officers in areas with a lot of “sneaky thieves and robbers,” said Park Byeong-guk, the deputy commissioner of the police agency. “We are collecting postings uploaded by citizens onto our agency’s Web site” to determine where to dispatch the officers. The new squad will help save the city money, as the police agency won’t have to purchase and maintain new patrol cars. In many developed countries, bicycle squads are designated as specialized police units, somewhat like a special task force or bomb squad. The United States, in particular, relies heavily on bike-riding officers. The first U.S. squad was organized in Seattle, Washington, more than 20 years ago. Now, most U.S. cities with more than 250,000 residents have bike squads. “There are many studies that show the image of police has improved” after the introduction of a bike unit, Lee said. “In particular, these squads have done a great job of cracking down on street crimes such as smoking marijuana and on [maintaining order] at demonstrations.” The city eventually hopes to add more officers to the unit. By Lim Mi-jin [smartpower@joongang.co.kr] |
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