European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 17, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Magazine a i jobs a la amp a or Ute Iii. Amp pedal patrol 3$v-- c amp a a a a a a a Byj. Michael Kennedy los Angeles times silent As the night the two cops were on the men before they knew what was happening. Their bicycles made no noise As they sped along the Muddy path under the viaduct in Seattle Wash. They surprised three prowlers who were watching from a distance unsuspecting motorists putting their valuables in car trunks. The prowlers had not yet zeroed in on a Good Mark in the parking lot so officers Debbie Brooks and Steve Kilberg found Only a hefty screwdriver on them the kind that could be used to pop open a trunk. They told the Trio to keep walking. Five minutes later the officers arrested a Man As he was about to inject cocaine into his Arm As he sat amid the filth so much a part of life under the viaduct a and consequently the life of Seattle s Bike cops. There were broken bottles and mud covered remnants of clothing. The Guy with the Needle had heated his cocaine on the peeled off Bottom of an aluminium can. He was Little More than a kid but the Bike cops had had Many dealings with him before. With their prisoner in Handcuffs Brooks and Kilberg wheeled their Mountain bikes out to the Street where they waited for the Paddy Wagon. While they were there two other Bike cops Vic Maes and Al Lopez appeared at the top of the Hill. Now that s a pair Maes and Lopez Maes is the serious one when he is on the Street looking for the pushers and dealers he knows by their first names Lopez is a bodybuilder with a soft voice and an Eye for the ladies. Many is the time Maes has looked Back to find his Bike partner talking to an attractive woman somewhere Down the Street. These Are four of the Bike cops of Seattle the City where Mountain bikes were first used to go after Crooks. What started with two officers making rounds in 1987 has evolved into 28 Quot Cycle cops Quot citywide. They began in rudimentary sartorial fashion using rubber bands around their legs to keep their pants from being caught in the Chain. But the uniform quickly became cycling shorts special lightweight shoes and of course rain gear. This is Seattle after All. Using bicycles on the beat is not exactly new. English bobbies Rode them. Police in the California Beach communities have employed them for work on the Boardwalk. But it was the trick of using Mountain bikes machines designed to go most anywhere that made police on bikes people to be reckoned with. They can Dart Down alleys and stairs zip across Parks and up Hills. They can slither through heavy traffic and go the wrong Way on a one Way Street. And they Are so quiet that Many a criminal has found himself staring at a badge in the Middle of an illegal transaction. Paul Grady one of the officers who dreamed up the Bike idea said that he has received queries from almost 200 police departments around the world on How to Start a cycling squad. He wrote a How to manual on Bike patrols and sold 50 of them in two weeks at $44.50 a pop. Police departments from Hollywood fla., to Sacramento calif., now have or Are planning Bike patrols. They have grown so popular that Bike cops from around the nation converged on Seattle recently for their own mini olympics which Seattle by the Way won. It was fitting that the first Competition was there where the Bike cops began and have flourished in a City that is a cyclists nirvana. Seattle recently was rated by bicycling Magazine As the Best place in the nation to practice the sport. Quot its just taken off across the country Quot said Grady who has been transferred from the Bike patrol As he pursues his sergeant s stripes. A a it a  in Salt Lake City there Are plans to almost double the Bike Force this year from eight to 14. The new York Borough of Queens has them As does the wealthy Dallas suburb of Highland Park. In Chicago burglaries were up last year a except in places where there were cops on bikes. And in Tampa fla., police use bikes to roam High crime Public housing projects. Boston recently began a Bike program and the Sacramento police department has put All its downtown foot patrolmen on bikes. Bike beat Memphis tenn., patrolman chats with pedestrians on mid America mall. A b Quot i think Bike patrols will become Standard in the future Quot said Sacramento police sgt. Kent Thorpe. Quot they did it in London a Long time ago and now it s coming Back into style except updated with Mountain  so popular is the cop on a Bike concept that consulting with other departments has become almost a full time Job for Grady. He takes vacation time to train others. There Are Small drawbacks such As a hefty amount of needling from fellow officers and the need for assistance once an arrest is made. Quot you re not going to arrest people and then put them on your handlebars Quot Grady said. Brooks and Kilberg were Back at the station filling out paper work and Maes and Lopez were on the Street. Only a few blocks away is the Pike place Market one of the major destinations for tourists and locals alike. Fresh fish is piled High As Are vegetables. Stalls of Handiwork and to shirts line the a a a sidewalk. Maes and Lopez worked the streets a few blocks away where life takes a serious plunge. They Call it the Quot cesspool Quot and the  its where drug deals go Down in the alleys and muggers cruise looking for prey. Maes and Lopez know the Street people by their first names. They know what they Are doing and what they Are Selling. The two cops cruised the alleys pointing to Small piles where ends of balloons had been Cut off. Cocaine and crack cocaine Are stuffed in balloons which then Are knotted before the ends Are Cut off the better to Swallow them if they see cops about to move in Maes and Lopez do not see this scene Ike patrols Are coming Back into style updated with Mountain bikes. A sgt. Kent Thorpe Sacramento police in quite the same Way. Maes is the driven one always looking for the bust. He stops known addicts on the Street and makes them open their Mouths to see whether balloons Are hidden inside. Lopez sometimes tires of the territory of seeing the same lost faces Day after Day. Quot sometimes it just gets  after a lunch of beef Teriyaki they swung up the Street and around the Corner just in time to see a Man and woman get out of a car. The Man rolled his eyes when he saw Maes and Lopez the couple Are addicts who have had Many run ins with the Bike cops. Quot Man i swear we just came Down to get our bus passes Quot the Man said. Quot sure Quot Maes replied. Quot sure. Where d you get the car Quot Quot we just borrowed it from a Friend Quot the Man said As Maes pulled out his citation Book. Maes eventually charged him with driving without a License although he could have hit him with much More. But before he had finished writing the ticket the couple was talking about How they had tried to stay clean How they had really tried. Lopez listened to the woman intently. Quot i got cleaned up and dirty again cleaned up and dirty again Quot she said sobbing. Quot you need to get some help Quot Lopez said. The woman Shook her head in assent. Quot we tried Quot the Man said. Quot but we screwed up. We re really  Down another Alley. More balloons. Two kids one fat one thin standing behind a trash bin obviously intent on cutting a drug Deal. Maes frisked the thin one and found a homemade hash pipe. He pushed the thin one up to the Wall and lectured him about How stupid he was to be in the area. Quot people die on this Street Quot he told the kid. Quot people die on that  then he put the pipe on the Alley and crushed it with the Heel of his shoe