NAVASOTA, Texas — Navasota Police Department discovered an old gem while digging through their storage bay, a couple of bikes.
They will be the newest addition to the police department starting next month as the city's first bike patrol unit.
Their police chief explains how this bike patrol unit will make history in the fast-growing city.
The bikes were sitting in storage for over 20 years and now these bikes are making history in Navasota.
“New tires, new brakes, new clean up and so forth and decided, let’s have a bike unit,” said Chief Michael Mize, Navasota Police Department.
Mize says it cost about a thousand dollars to clean up the bikes, but the community came together to raise the majority of the funds.
“We got several donations from local businesses downtown to install the lights, sirens, bags,” said Mize.
Police say it's a step in the right direction and a way for officers want to make their way around town during community events.
“The city of Navasota is growing in general but downtown events are becoming more popular at least one or two a month and it’s easier for the officers to move around on bicycles than it is patrol cars, and also go faster than walking,” said Chief Mize.
The department may need more bikes soon as many officers loved the idea of bike patrolling. The chief says the initiative has officers re-thinking the way they want to patrol Navasota.
“We had almost every single officer in the department say, ‘hey, I want to be a part of that,’” said John Shoemaker, assistant chief, Navasota Police Department.
It’s a specialized unit for off-duty officers to respond to calls faster.
“We can use them during parades, wine walks, any event that we have in the city,” said Shoemaker. “They’re actually going to be a great asset to have to be able to navigate crowds and to be able to move through the people to get to any issues that may arise.”
Shoemaker says it also gives the officers time to bond with the community and each other.
“A lot of guys said they get paid to exercise, so it’s a good opportunity for the guys to boost morale,” said Shoemaker.
Navasota isn't the only police department with bike patrol units around the area—
College station police department has “CSTEP” the College Station Tourism and Entertainment Police that patrols the Northgate bar district.
Navasota PD says they plan to have their officers on bikes at the Sounds of Summer Concert next month.