Officers with the Thunder Bay Police Service’s Community Oriented Response (COR) Unit are adding to their policing toolbox.
Officers on Tuesday were provided with a special orientation aimed at helping them better understand how they may be able to incorporate bicycles into their day-to-day patrols and projects.
“COR officers will be able to utilize the bikes to get into tight spots where a police cruiser isn’t practical,” said COR Unit officer Cst. Tax Milionis, adding that the bikes could get officers into trail systems, walking paths and even certain neighbourhoods “more easily and quicker.”
The COR is a community-focused specialty unit established in January 2020. Part of the TBPS’s Community Service Branch, COR officers are part of a high-visibility unit that identified specific issues and problem areas of the city and execute projects focused on addressing the root of those identified problems.
The service does not have a bicycle unit, but having officers trained to use the bicycles will give them more options when executing certain projects.
“So the bike will be deployable anywhere, at any time,” Milionis said.
Tuesday’s orientation was led by Katherine Morency, a qualified instructor with Blacksheep MTB.