Video: Starkville Police Department’s Motorcycle Unit

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – Motorcycle cops are unique in police departments across Mississippi.

That’s because officers on motorcycles are usually patrolling high traffic areas.

Most smaller north Mississippi towns can get by with patrol officers in vehicles, but officers say Starkville needs motorcycle units, especially on game days.

“Where it might be unique here in Starkville, when you get to the northern areas around Memphis or the Gulf Coast areas, motorcycles are actually quite common,” says Starkville Police Department Captain of Operations, Mark Ballard.

To borrow a line from Star Trek, “these bikes can go where no cop has gone before.”

“This is particularly important when you’re dealing with game day traffic, congestion. If you have an accident where time matters, where lives are on the line, these guys can get to it. They can give us the first response of where the ambulances are. They can clear out traffic,” says Captain Ballard.

Motorcycle officers can do everything a patrolman does, except take people to jail.

“We have all the equipment, with the exception of say, our long rifles, we have everything else. Medic bags, camera systems, radar, anything that we need to work traffic effectively, we have on the motors, just as they do on the patrol cars,” says SPD motorcycle officer, Andy Round.

Life on two wheels does carry a little more danger.

“When you get into the side of being a police motorcycle, we have to go a little bit above and beyond of that offensive and defensive driving, to where we have to look out for ourselves, look out for everyone else, and on top of that, try to do our jobs as well. So it becomes very very intense at times,” says Corporal Taylor Wells.

Wells and Round both ride bikes on their off days and say they can tell motorists are aware of the police motorcycle patrols.

“Riding with my wife and seeing a pair of motorcycles topping the hill and then a car in front of me immediately hitting the breaks and slowing down. So, I think it has brought awareness to not only us motorist officers, but other civilian riders around town to watch out. You don’t know if we’re wearing a badge, or if we’re just a civilian rider,” says Round.

Both officers are always on call and get called in more than other officers when it comes to events.

Motor officers go through extensive training before patrolling on motorcycles.

You don’t have to have motorcycle experience in order to become a motor officer.

Biker cops go through an 80 hour training course and spend 76 hours leaning how to ride.

Starkville’s motorcycle officers were civilian riders before becoming motor officers.

Both say learning how to ride a police motorcycle is a lot different.

The Starkville Police Motorcycle Unit went to training on the coast.