Letter from the Police Chief: Holiday safety advice

Published on November 28, 2022

This week, we have had a few injury collisions involving pedestrians and bicycles. We also see bicycles continuing to trend as a top target for theft. The collisions we have seen involve vehicles bicycles, and pedestrians - and often a vehicle versus a pedestrian or bike. While the causes for these incidents vary, all such collisions have impact on us. As we go into a season where there are families gathering, we should expect to see the number of folks out for a walk or bike-ride in our neighborhoods increasing. Additionally, the recent time change makes dangerous low-light times of day even closer to our work and school commute time, and also brings sunrise and sunset angles into the eyes of our commuters at a dangerous hour.

This is a good time for a reminder to follow some basic safety measures you can take to help keep yourselves and your loved ones safe:

Pay attention to traffic signs and signals and follow them. Use those dedicated crosswalks and any related warning lights whenever possible.
Make good use of the designated bike lanes that this city provides all over town. These help keep both bicyclists and roadway vehicles safer.
Wear high-visibility clothing and vests whenever possible if you are walking or riding on our City streets - take control as much as you can over whether you can be seen by others sharing the road.
Wear a helmet when riding - that helmet dangling from your handlebars or off your backpack is doing you no good!
Drivers - Please be super-aware of the hazards on the road, other drivers, bikes and pedestrians. Keep your eyes and ears open, be a good defensive driver, and watch out for your neighbors.

We will also have our Bike Team members out on the streets whenever possible this holiday season, and our Traffic Team and patrol officers will also be on the lookout for opportunities to correct and educate unsafe road behavior. We have also seen bicycles become a primary target for theft. Do everything you can to secure your bikes with good locks. Record the serial numbers on your bikes and take photos of them - just in case. Also, a great tip I heard a few weeks ago was to find a place on your bike to hide a small geo-tracking tag - if you have access to one - that you can track with your mobile device.

The Police Department has produced a couple of bike safety videos that may be helpful:

As always, we do our best to address everything we can to help you feel safe - but we cannot be everywhere at once! We depend on our partnership with you - to exemplify safety in our community whenever you can, and to keep our department notified of ways that we can help.

Wishing you a very safe and happy holiday season,

Chief Dave Norris and the Police Department