Going Where Squad Cars Can't

Their $1,500 bicycles are equipped with mini-sirens, batteries that look like water bottles and even a push-button horn. And if they wanted to, the Skokie Police Department's Bicycle Patrol Unit could pull you over.

But that's really not on their agenda Thursday evening, as officers Kevin Kruswicki, Mike Kane and Kert Siemiawski monitor the action at four of the village's major parks: Gross Point, Lee Wright, Winnebago and Tecumseh.

Though Skokie has more than 40 parks, residents have reported everything from violence to drug deals at the parks targeted for bike patrol. After a Town Hall meeting on June 24, village officials took note and recently decided to close the troubled parks at dusk instead of 9 p.m.

Throughout the day, officers pedal a circuit of several miles to each park at least twice during their 4-to-8 p.m. shift. Their main goal is to increase the department's presence and build relationships with the community, Kruswicki said.

"If I'm riding my bike, a business owner that probably wouldn't have flagged a squad car will wave me down and tell me about something that's going down," Kruswicki said. "People are more comfortable approaching us."

Indeed, people approached and greeted the bicycle patrol several times. Yet for some children, having police officers at their park isn't something that bodes well with them.

"The parks will clear out because of us sometimes," Kane said. "Give it 30 minutes and you'll see the place get empty quick."

Fiten Merza, an Assyrian mother of three who lives near Winnebago Park, said the increased presence of the bicycle unit was working.

"It was really bad here one month ago. People were fighting a lot," Merza said.

"It's very quiet now, and I like seeing the cops on their bicycles," she added. "I think the kids are starting to figure it out – the parks are a lot stricter now, which is a good thing for me."

While Kane and Kruswicki have been on the Bicycle Patrol Unit for a combined total of seven years, veterans like Siemiawski have been doing it since the program started 10 years ago.

As opposed to driving in a squad car, everything is more up close and real when riding a bike, Kane said. Over time, the officers have discovered several unique places and intersting trivia about Skokie, including a house once owned by Playboy founder Hugh Hefner on the 9500 block of Hamlin Avenue.

"[Hefner] didn't live here, but he would let his friends stay here whenever they wanted to get away," Kruswicki said. "Nobody lives there anymore, but it's still cool."

While the slow evening offers the unit time to ease up and rest their legs, being on bike patrol does have its moments.

"I saw a drug deal go down at a 7-Eleven where two cars pulled up next to each other and exchanged hands [with narcotics]," Kane said.

"I snuck up on them and was only like 6 feet away. They didn't even see me," he recalled in making the arrests.

Skokie Patch was invited for a ride along with the Bicycle Patrol Unit. To read about our time spent in a squad car, click here.