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Selma police say they will await state e‑bike legislation, ramp up local enforcement near schools
Summary
Police Chief Alcarez told the council the department paused drafting a local e‑bike ordinance to await pending state legislation and will increase traffic enforcement and targeted e‑bike stops as school starts; the department also plans community forums on related safety technology.
The Selma Police Department told the City Council it is pausing a local e‑bike ordinance effort while monitoring quickly moving state legislation that could reclassify e‑bikes and assign licensing or enforcement responsibilities.
Police Chief Alcarez (speaker 12) reported the legislature is considering bills that would treat some e‑bikes as motor vehicles, possibly imposing age and licensing rules. "In the interest of legislation and making sure that we're not going back and forth with this ordinance, we were going to wait for legislation to become codified," he said. Chief Alcarez added the department will increase traffic enforcement and add e‑bike enforcement operations in the weeks before school starts to address recent incidents.
Council members asked whether licensing would shift costs locally and how enforcement responsibilities would be delegated. City attorney and other staff said many details remain unresolved and that some authority could be delegated to local governments if the state law provides for it. The police chief also announced a community forum on cameras, e‑bikes and safety likely in early November and urged residents to follow rules of the road.
