Los Gatos Police Bike Patrol Upgraded

The Los Gatos/Monte Sereno Police Department has purchased four new Specialized bicycles for its bicycle patrol team, authorities announced Tuesday.

The bicycles will replace and add to the six old bicycles the department already has, said Bike Team Sgt. Layne Davis.

"We are evaluating what we are going to keep and what we are going to get rid of. At this point, we’ll probably keep at least two of the old bikes, keeping our number at least at six," Sgt. Davis said.

The 38-sworn officer department's bicycle patrol team consists of about 11 officers and is a "collateral duty," meaning that no officers are assigned solely to bicycle patrol, Sgt. Davis noted.

Officers can take a bicycle out on patrol whenever it is approved by their supervisor, Sgt. Davis added.

The department also purchased two new bike racks for their patrol vehicles.

An officer will throw the bike on the rack on their patrol vehicle and use it during their shift as appropriate, Sgt. Davis explained.

Generally, the officers will ride the downtown area but they have used the bicycles all over town and on the Los Gatos Creek Trail, Sgt. Davis said.

The bicycles are normally ridden during the day, however, they have been used during the night time as well, Sgt. Davis indicated.

Recently, bicycle patrol officers were seen on Halloween night in town, which normally attracts thousands of visitors to popular trick-or-treating neighborhoods like the historic Almond Grove District, Tait Avenue, Blossom Manor, to name a few. 

The nonprofit Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Foundation raised $7,000 for the purchase of the new bicycles and equipment at the recent “Taste of Los Gatos” fundraising event, Sgt. Davis said.

The money came from donations of members of the community and the Police Foundation, which is chaired by Los Gatos community advocate Jonathan Knowles.