The Associated Press
LIVINGSTON, La. (AP) - They’re not motorcycle officers. Most never were. But a good few Livingston Parish law enforcement officials are off-hour bikers.
“I never had a desire to be a motorcycle officer. It’s dangerous and takes a tremendous amount of training and skill,” Denham Springs Police Chief Jeff Wesley says.
But on their time off, he, two other police chiefs in the parish, not to mention the sheriff, the parish assessor and the city prosecutor in Denham Springs find freedom, relaxation and camaraderie cruising country roads on their motorcycles.
“It’s the closest thing you can find to flying without leaving the ground,” Wesley said.
They ride summer and winter, although “love bug season is pretty bad,” Wesley said. “You don’t want to smile at anybody.”
All have had their adventures. Some tell about their spills. A couple even admit to embarrassing moments while separating from their bikes unexpectedly.
The dean of the public official gang is 67-year-old Walker Police Chief Elton Burns, who was a motorcycle officer in Baton Rouge in the 1960s.
He describes one wreck: “I flew through the air with the greatest of ease for 40 or 50 feet.” Then he came down.
“I remember waking up and there were lights and sirens everywhere,” he said.
Through his daze, he heard an officer ask a woman if she was a nurse. “Yes,” she replied, “but I can’t help him.”
Burns thought that meant he couldn’t be saved. Later, he learned the woman was explaining that she wasn’t a trauma nurse.
That wreck broke his hip and tore his revolver from his gun belt. It also cracked his helmet, convincing him that they are necessary motorcycle equipment.
Wesley’s motorbike safety lessons began when he was 10, riding a minibike with a 3.5 horsepower engine.
“One day I wasn’t watching where I was going - I think I was looking at a dog - and when I looked up there was this big oak tree right in front of me.”
He survived with a little bent metal and bruised pride.
Sheriff Willie Graves hasn’t had any spills since he raced motorcycles as a teenager. On the highway, he said, he’s learned to anticipate other drivers.
“Every vehicle you see, you assume the driver doesn’t see you,” said Denham Springs city prosecutor David Guidry, who has been riding only about 18 months.
Springfield Police Chief Jimmy Jones has two major rules: Don’t get in a hurry on a motorcycle, and don’t drink and ride.
“I’ve never had a wreck on a street bike,” Jones said. He doesn’t, however, go into details about his younger days on dirt bikes.
Both Assessor Jeff Taylor and Guidry said they’ve never had an accident.
“Don’t get crazy,” Taylor said is his cardinal rule. He and Guidry both say their wives worried about their decisions to buy motorcycles. Taylor’s wife has ridden with him once, around the neighborhood. Guidry’s has ridden with him several times.
Graves, Burns and Jones all said their wives enjoy riding with them. Wesley’s girlfriend had a bike of her own for a while.
All the riders said their children enjoy breezing around as passengers.
Graves, Burns and Jones ride cruisers, while Wesley, Taylor and Guidry drive sportier bikes.
After changing from a cruiser to an ST1300 Honda, Wesley discovered that cruiser riders no longer returned his waves.
Whatever they ride, a fraternity exists among most bikers, Guidry said.
“People with bikes tend to talk to each other” when they stop, he said. “You meet a lot of interesting people.”
He said many nonriders have misconceptions about motorcyclists.
Graves said he rides with a lot of people with whom he goes to church and was surprised when he bought a bike as an adult to find out how many people he knew had motorcycles.
“Most people envision motorcyclists as gang members,” Wesley said.
Motorcycle gangs do still exist, Burns said. “We try to stay away from them, and they try to stay away from us.”
Graves said that when he decided to return to motorcycle riding, he got his motorcycle deputies to retrain him.
Although many present and former policemen ride, most of them never were motorcycle officers.
Burns is an exception.
“It was one of the best jobs I had in law enforcement,” he said. “I got to ride around all day on a Harley and I got paid for it.”