By Robert King, The Indianapolis Star
With traffic on Central Indiana highways increasing and gas prices rising, the Indiana State Police has decided -- after 65 years -- to bring back motorcycles for patrol duty on the area’s busiest roads.
State Police Superintendent Melvin J. Carraway announced Friday that his agency has acquired four Harley-Davidson motorcycles on loan from the manufacturer as part of a test program that could expand if it proves successful.
The last time the State Police patrolled on motorcycles was 1939.
Back then, motorcycles simply weren’t what they are today, and the State Police decided patrol cars were the way to go, said Lt. Scott Beamon, a spokesman for the State Police.
But in the age of $2-a-gallon gasoline, the motorcycles get 42 miles per gallon -- twice that of a patrol cruiser. And their smaller size makes them ideal for weaving through traffic snarls and construction zones to places that a big cruiser can’t easily reach, Beamon said.
While the motorcycles are new to the State Police, some agencies never abandoned them.
The Indianapolis Police Department has 50 motorcycles -- some of them Harleys -- in service. “We have used motorcycles as long as they have been a viable form of transportation,” said IPD spokesman Steve Staletovich.
Thirteen State Police officers completed two weeks of training on the new bikes at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Outfitting the troopers with the proper helmets, boots and clothes costs about $2,000 per rider. Modifying the motorcycles with flashing lights, radios, radars and decals costs about $1,000 per bike.
The motorcycle patrols rolled into action on Friday.