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| Welcome to Fairfax Police Department |
    
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| Fairfax Police Department Bike Program
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| You might say that "ride, don't drive" is the motto for Fairfax PD's Bike Program, which has been operational since March 1999.
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 Fairfax PD's first electric bicycle was purchased with grant money awarded to the department by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, through the Transportation Funds for Clean Air Act. The bike is a Zero Air Pollution electric bicycle, or ZAP bike. ZAP bikes are now used by more than 130 law enforcement agencies around the United States.
The department set two goals for the use of the bicycle: first, to increase community policing, and second, to reduce vehicle emissions. Following almost instant positive feedback from members of the community, the Town of Fairfax used its own funds to purchase a second, non-motorized bike to add to the project in May, 1999.
The bicycles are primarily used to patrol the downtown area, and are also used to patrol residential areas and schools. The bicycles are also particularly useful during festivals and events. Fairfax was the first town in Ross Valley to use the electric bikes for police work.
While it may seem that learning to use a police bicycle should be, well, as easy as riding a bike, officers are actually sent to training courses for the use of police bicycles. Courses cover such topics as getting off the bike to contact someone, what to do if the officer has to chase someone and make an arrest, and how to ride up and down stairs.
The ZAP bike can reach a top speed of about 17 miles per hour on flat ground, and can travel about 15 miles before the battery needs to be recharged. While the motor does not replace pedaling, it does make it easier for the officers. The more the rider pedals, the more efficient the system becomes.
Officers feel that the ZAP bike is a great tool for law enforcement - with the motorized assist, they can quickly get where they are needed, and still have plenty of energy to do the job at hand.
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