MA - Springfield police unveil new motorbikes, funded by a state grant

[StlouisX50]

Springfield police unveil new motorbikes, funded by a state grant, for downtown and neighborhood patrol

by The Republican Newsroom Thursday August 20, 2009, 1:46 PM


Photo by Mark M. Murray / The RepublicanSpringfield police officers Larry Akers, Arthur Dambrosia and Robert Ward, left to right, drive the department's new three-wheeled motorbikes down Pearl Street Thursday, following a press conference introducing the new equipment.
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By GEORGE GRAHAM
ggraham@repub.com

SPRINGFIELD - Holy motorbikes, Batman!

If the Joker ever nurtured some nefarious plan to break into the City of Homes he would surely shelve it after getting a gander at the Police Department's latest mode of transportation.
The five new Piaggio motorbikes - sleek, black and futuristic - look like something the Caped Crusader would ride.
Springfield Police get new motorbikes
Batman jokes - and extreme coolness factor - aside, however, the Piaggios, police said, make for an effective crime-fighting tool.
The motorbikes, with two wheels in the front and one in the rear are quite stable, police said.

"It gives you great stability," Traffic Officer Robert Ward said shortly before the motorbikes embarked on their maiden patrols of city streets.

And their quiet 500 cc engines are well-suited for police to monitor their surroundings downtown and in the city neighborhoods that they will patrol.

"It will help our police officers to be more intimate with individuals in those areas," Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said.

Sarno and Police Commissioner William J. Fitchet used the Thursday launching of the new motorbike fleet to illustrate the department's aggressiveness in pursuing grants, like the Department of Justice grant that allowed for the purchase of the Piaggios.

Sarno said the department currently has over $5 million worth of grant applications that it is pursuing.

That includes, Sarno said, a $600,000 state grant that, if awarded, would fund the initial hiring of ten police officers.

"We have to wait and see if it is awarded," Fitchet said.

Sarno said the state grant is less stringent than the recent round of federal grants, aimed to fill vacant police positions, that the city did not apply for.

What kept the city away, Sarno said, was the requirement that recipients pay for the officers after three years.

"We feel the number of 10 is fiscally prudent and it's something in our budget we can handle," Sarno said.

Fitchet said the department currently has nine unfilled positions.

City Councilor and mayoral candidate Bud L. Williams sharply criticized the Sarno administration for not applying for the federal grant money.

Sgt. John M. Delaney, aide to Fitchet, said a major economic advantage of the state grant is that it would allow for hiring of trained officers who have been laid off elsewhere in the state.

The motorbikes, along with assorted gear, cost about $9,500 apiece.

They were purchased from Enfield Motorsports which worked with Piaggio program to keep their costs down for the department, Dale A. Badura, a co-owner of the business said.

Springfield Auto and Truck Equipment, along with Whelen Engineering of Connecticut, provided the motorbikes with blue flashers and Exxon Mobile gave the department a $2,000 grant for helmets and other needed accessories, police said.

[StlouisX50]

What weird looking bikes, they almost look like big kids on little kids bikes!

[supercowpowers]

What weird looking bikes, they almost look like big kids on little kids bikes!

x2. On my crappy resolution monitor at work, all I saw at first was three stern looking men on 'motorcycles'. It was rather intimidating until... I scrolled down and it looked like they were riding kids' toys. It's like something out of Paul Blart Mall Cop...

Do you have to put a foot down when you stop one of those things? If you don't, I predict the rise of a new urban pastime.... "pig tipping".