This article was updated to reflect that two motor officers had died since 2015 and not four as had been previously stated.
By Ashley Silver
Police1
LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State Police will be disbanding its motorcycle unit and there is one key factor that prompted the change: officer safety.
According to WXYZ-TV, two state troopers in the Michigan State Police’s motorcycle unit have died since 2015, creating a safety concern.
In a historic move for the department, officers who were on motorcycle patrol will now be assigned to cruisers. The transition comes with a bit of uncertainty about how different operations might run with the motorcycle unit disbanded.
“There are times when we work very closely with them and those assets are in play so we will have to figure out how to pick up that slack,” Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard told the news platform.