Officers at the MSU police department are looking forward to warmer weather and a chance to dust off their four Harley-Davidson Road King motorcycles.
The bikes were used until December but currently sit in a garage at the department, unusable with the frigid temperatures and snow-covered roads.
The department leased the bikes in April, hoping for better maneuvering abilities and more efficiency during on-campus special events. The program is up for renewal this spring, and MSU police Chief Jim Dunlap said he plans to continue with it.
"They have increased our ability to do traffic and safety enforcement," he said. "We have every intention of going forward and staying with it as long as it's feasible."
Dunlap acknowledged that motorcycles are weather-dependent and can't be used in extreme cold, on slick or snow-covered roads and during heavy rainstorms, but said that didn't weigh heavily on the decision to start the program and he still considers the bikes a better investment than new squad cars.
"Winter wasn't a consideration because we knew that it wasn't going to be a 12-month vehicle for us," he said. "Sometimes you don't get the perfect thing, but you get something that's pretty good and at an affordable cost."
MSU is one of the only universities in the country that equips police officers with motorcycles, Dunlap said.
MSU police Sgt. Florene McGlothian-Taylor said, because the motorcycles can maneuver better than cars, traffic citations increased across campus by 37 percent.
Each fully equipped motorcycle costs $400 a year to lease, which amounts to about $1.25 a day, Dunlap said. A fully equipped squad car costs about $52,000.
East Lansing police Capt. Juli Liebler said the East Lansing police department has considered getting motorcycles, but safety concerns and additional costs were reasons for not adopting a program.
"Driving a motorcycle is more dangerous than operating a vehicle," Liebler said. "With such a small city and a lot of roads and traffic, the chief has concerns about additional risks to the officers."
But Dunlap said the program works well on campus because the maneuvering capabilities allow officers to monitor tight traffic areas such as East and West Circle Drives.
"It's hard to do traffic enforcement there because there's no place to put a patrol car," he said. "You'd block off an entire lane."
During special events - including games and shows at the Wharton Center and Breslin Center - multiple squad cars are needed, decreasing the number that can be out patrolling the road, Dunlap said.
Campus police handle about 700 special events each year, and having motorcycles allows officers to handle the events with ease, while the squad cars remain on patrol or control heavy traffic at intersections.
Fuel costs also have been reduced significantly with the motorcycles, saving more than 40,000 gallons of gasoline a year, Dunlap said.
"I think it's a good win for the department and the university," he said. "It ended up being a really positive improvement."
