Puyallup City Councilmember Rick Hansen is interested in restoring the police department’s motorcycle patrol and talked about it with me for this week’s issue. I did a lot of research on how police departments nationwide are using motorcycle patrols but unfortunately, because of space concerns, the information won’t be included in the story that is released in the Feb. 26 Herald.

That, however, is the beauty of blogging. Here’s what I dug up from several other places:

• Pittsburgh’s motorcycle squad issued more than 11,000 traffic tickets in 2008, 10 times as many as their counterparts in cruisers. The unit features 30 new bikes costing $28,000 each, all equipped with new lights, sirens and sidecars and serves a city of more than 300,000 people.
• The Pinal County Sheriff’s Department in Arizona this month created a five-person motorcycle squad by reassigning two deputies and a sergeant. The unit, which serves a population of more than 179,000, is aiming to improve traffic safety by focusing on accident investigations and drunk drivers.
• The Humble Independent School District police in Harris County, Texas, serves a population of 33,000 students and 2,300 teachers primarily through traffic control and patrolling sporting events. Officers go through a difficult two-week training academy in which half fail on their first attempts.
• Stillwater, Okla., police reinstituted their motorcycle patrol in the 1980s and now uses two 1340 cc Harley-Davidson bikes to serve a city of more than 40,000 people. The department says the bikes are more mobile, easier to deploy and increase contact with the public. Officers are trained at an 80-hour academy.
• Pennsylvania State University police began using two electric motorcycles in September 2008 to patrol parking lots during football games, the first unit in the state to use electric cycles. The bikes use no gasoline and have rechargeable, recyclable batteries. The department says they operate well in narrow places like sidewalks.