Marion County Sheriff Kevin Cripps says the department is purchasing an e-bike to keep up with an increase with those utilizing the e-bikes and e-scooters for criminal activity.
Cripps explains the problem they hope to counter.
“The problem that we have is that these guys are using these bikes and scooters for illegal activities such as drugs, burglaries, and thefts,” Cripps said. “They literally drive through somebody’s carport and grab something. They just ride up to somewhere, break into a residence or business, and they get on the e-bike. It’s really quiet, so there’s no noise as far as arriving or leaving.”
Cripps says the department’s e-bike will help in several ways.
“As soon as the police officer sees them, as soon as your headlights come on or you start your ignition on your squad car when you see one of these e-bikes, the bikes are so quiet that they can hear that, and they’ll evade by cutting through yards, alleys, and people’s properties and their woods. It’s almost impossible for us to catch them at that point. I plan to up the game a little bit. We’ll start matching it with our e-bike and try to deter some of these. My intent is that we will try to catch some of these folks in this activity over the next few months and see how this thing goes.”
Cripps will purchase the bike through drug and grant funds. Deputies will utilize the bikes when there is an extra person on duty or when there is a special need.
Cripps believes his is one of the first departments to utilize an e-bike and had to write a policy on its use for the county’s insurance company.
He notes state law has changed on use of e-bikes and those who own them or plan to buy them should read up on what is and is not legal.
