At a morning event along the city's rail trail, Mayor Coogan and Police Chief Furtado unveiled four electric bicycles purchased by the Community Development Agency for the police department’s neighborhood engagement and enforcement team. Officials said the bikes will allow officers to patrol areas that are harder to reach by cruiser and increase their visibility and contacts with residents.

The bikes are intended to expand community policing on the rail trail and nearby neighborhoods, officials said. “When we partner with the Community Development Agency and then director Mike Dion, the police department, we can do good things for this city, and this is 1 of them today. I'm very, very happy to see this,” Mayor Coogan said.

Police Chief Furtado said the bicycles are “more than just new equipment. It's another tool in our toolbox that strengthens our relationship with the community and ensures we can respond quickly and effectively while remaining approachable and accessible to the public we serve.” She identified the team as the neighborhood engagement and enforcement team (the “neat team”).

Officer Bailey described technical features: “they are electric, so we don't have to pedal as much with the city having as many hills as it does. ... So wherever cars can't go, parks, trails, sidewalks, things like that, makes it a lot easier, especially with the wide tires.” Bailey also said the bikes have sirens, blue lights and packs for first-aid kits so officers can attend medical situations in a compact platform.

Officials said the department researched models to ensure durability for on- and off-road use and equipped the bicycles with heavy-duty frames, wider tires, lights and emergency gear to improve safety at night. Chief Furtado noted training plans for the unit, including a mountain-bike course referred to in the transcript as “cobweb,” and said one officer is currently in training.

Cost statements in the event were inconsistent. At one point an amount was described as “somewhere around $1,818,000 for all 4,” and later a speaker said “they cost somewhere around 18, I believe.” The final purchase price and funding breakdown were not specified in the transcript. Mayor Coogan and event remarks credited the Community Development Agency and its director, Mike Dion, with funding the bikes as an extension of prior walking-beat community policing investments.

The rollout included an on-site demonstration of lights, siren settings and speed modes. Officials said battery life varies with speed and terrain. Chief Furtado and officers emphasized that the bikes are intended to increase patrol coverage on the rail trail, enhance engagement with residents and support public-safety responses where cruisers cannot easily reach.

Less critical details noted in the event: officers said the city’s long-running bike unit dates to 1992 and that the department uses other vehicles such as a Polaris for community events. Mayor Coogan invited attendees to inspect the bicycles after the presentation.