Police saddled with a 93-page guide...on riding a bike!

Published 13th Nov 2009

They say you never forget how to ride a bike. But when it comes to health and safety, bobbies on two wheels can't be too careful.

That's why police officers have produced a 93-page guide on how to ride a bicycle.

The weighty instruction manual covers such simple matters as how to turn, balance, stop and get off the bike safely.

The step-by-step guide produced for the Association of Chief Police Officers offers handy tips such as avoid kerbs and wear padded shorts for 'in-saddle comfort'.

It warns bike-bound bobbies not to arrest suspects while on a bike or, as the guide puts it, 'engaged with the cycle'.

The lengthy pamphlets were supposed to be sent to police officers around the UK at a cost estimated to run into thousands of pounds.

But yesterday police chiefs were furiously back-pedalling after the detailed guidelines faced ridicule and the project has now been halted.

The manual, which comes in two volumes, gives advice on how to balance on two wheels so officers do not fall off and instructs them to eat and drink so they do not go hungry on patrol.

Undercover officers are told to carry out a risk assessment if they want to ride without a helmet to avoid arousing suspicion.

The guide, entitled the Police Cycle Training Doctrine, also covers key skills such as braking and reminds officers of the need to 'rear scan' - or look over their shoulder - to see what is behind them at a crossing.

There are detailed guidelines on how groups should ride in formation and instructions on moving from single to double file when the supervisor shouts: 'Move to double file.'

Volume two of the manual even includes a diagram on 'deployment into a junction', otherwise known as turning left or right at a crossing.

The book, drawn up by members of the police national working group for cycling training, was submitted to ACPO with the intention of becoming a mandatory police guide.

Yesterday an ACPO spokesman stressed that the guide would not be taken further.

• Police are to be given lessons in manners. The move by Greater Manchester Police comes after reports of officers being rude shot up by 14 per cent nationally in the past year.

The Manchester force saw a 17 per cent rise in complaints, from 1,794 to 2,102 in the same period, according to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

But some officers have objected to being taught to mind their Ps and Qs.

One said: 'We're being told that we have to be courteous to some scumbag who we've nicked a hundred times and that we have to stand a certain way at their door and not swear at them. We're not Mary Poppins for God's sake.'

Source: ' Daily Mail '

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