OPD bike unit puts officers on two wheels

Ocala Police Department Officer Phillip Matthews on patrol as part of the department’s new bike unit [OPD].

The Ocala Police Department has reintroduced a policing unit, with officers now patrolling on two wheels.

OPD’s bike unit will patrol downtown Ocala, Tuscawilla Park and the Paddock Mall.

Officer Phillip Matthews and Officer Holden Powell have been assigned to the unit to patrol on bicycles and will be assigned to specific areas as requested by command staff, said OPD spokesperson Jeffery Walczak.

We restarted the bike unit and its main focus is to give presence in the downtown area,” said Powell in a video.

To start the new unit, OPD spent $10,000 on the bicycles and associated gear.

“Work on the bike is great. We just get to interact with people you wouldn’t be able to interact with while driving,” Powell said.

Matthews said that because people are unfamiliar with police officers being on bicycles, it gives them a chance to “catch crimes in progress.”

“We’re kind of camouflaged. Most people don’t think of cops being on bicycles. We’ll be right beside someone and they’re like ‘Oh, I didn’t see you there’ and we were there for two minutes before they even recognized us,” Matthews said.

Powell said that the bikes allow them a lot of maneuverability, and the pair can cycle throughout downtown with a much higher frequency.

“Downtown Ocala is already a great place to be,” Powell said. “you’ll get a lot of police presence in and out. But us being on bikes, we’re able to ride on the sidewalk and see things that officers wouldn’t see in a car.