Police chief: deer study, e-bike legislation and staffing updates
Loading...
Summary
Hyde Park police reported efforts with wildlife authorities to collar deer for chronic wasting disease sampling, summarized state-level e-bike/e-motorcycle amendments under consideration, and said two candidates were interviewed with likely hires pending background checks; the department recorded 413 calls year-to-date.
Hyde Park's police chief reported several items to the council Jan. 28: collaboration with the Division of Wildlife on a deer-trapping and GPS-collar project to assess movements and test for chronic wasting disease; participation in regional conversations about sextortion presentations for neighboring cities; and an update on e-bike and electric-motorcycle rules under consideration at the state level.
The chief said proposed state amendments being debated in committee would clarify class 1–3 electric-assist bicycle definitions, set age restrictions (for example, restricting class 3 operation for those under 16 on highways) and allow impound authority for e-bikes. For electric motorcycles the draft would fold them into existing motorcycle law and include safety-training or licensing requirements for younger operators, the chief said. He provided copies of the draft amendments to council.
On department operations, the chief reported 102 calls in the last week and 413 calls for January so far (compared with 443 at the same point last year) and said two candidates were interviewed for two open positions, with hires likely pending successful background checks. He also noted the need to coordinate school safe-routes planning with the school district and law enforcement so local traffic and drop-off challenges are addressed.
The chief also described outreach to mayors about grant-funded programs and said several mayors requested presentations. Council thanked the chief for the update and noted a police commission meeting planned for Feb. 5 to review year-end statistics and quarterly budget items.