Harley Patrol

I sat down with Sgt. Rich Jackson of the Minneapolis Police Department to ask him about motorcycles. Jackson led the department to bring police motorcycles back to the streets of Minneapolis after a 50 year disappearance of officers on cruisers. Jackson researched the effectiveness of bikes in a police department, before proposing the department's use of bikes. He found faster response times and efficient use of resources were the results departments reported when utilizing motorcycles. Jackson said he was skeptical when he found research pointing to an increase in positive community response to officers on motorcycles. The same research reflected a change in the officers experience as the public began to talk and relate with them because they saw the bike. Jackson was surprised, but had the same experience himself when the Minneapolis Police Department invested in a fleet of Harley Davidsons for their Traffic Division.

Jackson explained to me that once an officer is outside of a box, a squad car, they are vulnerable to the world around them. The same is true for any motorcycle rider. That when a rider is on the road they see everything. They smell and feel everything. This not only changes the publics experience of the officer, but changes the experience of the public for the officer as well.


Jackson is a motorcycle safety instructor and trains both police officers and the public how to ride motorcycles. To take a course with Rich Jackson visit: www.rideracademy.com