COLTON - The world looks different from the seat of a mountain bike than from behind the wheel of a Crown Victoria.
| | Silvia Flores / The Press-Enterprise | | Eugene Gloudeman, left, and Ray Mendez are the fourth set of bike patrol officers in the Colton Police Department. In the past year, the partners have arrested more than 230 people. | | | |
Bike patrol officers can weave themselves into neighborhoods with more ease than officers driving motorcycles or patrol cars.
The bumps in the road literally feel bigger, but the community feels closer.
"People up to no good are usually off the beaten path," said Colton bike patrol Officer Ray Mendez. "That's usually where we go."
Mendez and his partner, Officer Eugene Gloudeman, have been pedaling all over the city of about 30 square miles for the past year. They have arrested more than 230 people on charges ranging from rape to marijuana possession.
Their Cannondale mountain bikes don't make a sound as they speed through alleys and duck into apartment complexes notorious for crime, they said.
On a recent morning in June, the officers started their day by cruising through Fleming Park, where homeless people tend to gather. The officers approached a number of men from opposite directions in case they decided to toss aside drugs or other contraband.
The officers quizzed them on a number of things: Had they been drinking in the park? Did they have drugs or weapons?
The homeless men knew the drill and chatted with the officers as they were being patted down.
"It's just a small town," Mendez said afterward. "You get to know people and they trust you. It's great for solving crimes."
Gloudeman and Mendez speak fondly about the rapport they have built with people in the community.
"It's amazing the contacts we make in regards to informants," Mendez said. "They become comfortable with us."
The welcome mat, however, is not always waiting for the officers.
After cruising Fleming Park, they headed east and then north of the Four Seasons apartment complex in the 1400 block of North Rialto Avenue.
The complex is one of the most crime-ridden in the city, they said. They rarely pedal in and leave without issuing a ticket or making an arrest.
The officers smelled marijuana coming from a parked red Cavalier sedan.
As they began to question the occupant, a woman started heckling them and threw gang signs and accused the police officers of harassment.
Her words fell on deaf ears. Mendez questioned the occupant while Gloudeman searched the Cavalier until he found a small container of marijuana marked with a bright green marijuana leaf.
"He's a security guard and it was in his security guard jacket," Gloudeman said.
The officer found less than an ounce of marijuana, an offense worth a citation and a court date.
After writing the ticket they went on their way. They barely had a chance to set a pace before they stopped to question Charles Martin, 33, who lives at the Four Seasons.
They kept Martin talking until they ran his name and found he had $300,000 in outstanding drug warrants. They handcuffed him and had him sit on the curb until an officer in a patrol car arrived and picked him up.
Martin seemed to take his arrest in stride.
"I have no problems with the cops," he said.
Mendez and Gloudeman are the fourth set of bike patrol officers to cycle through Colton Police Department's program.
They end their yearlong detail July 15 with fond memories and a lot of stories.
"It was a blast," Gloudeman said.
There could be an announcement next week as to who is replacing them, he said.
Reach Lisa B. McPheron at 909-806-3064 or lmcpheron@PE.com
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