Any Bike (Motors) Cops here? Need to pick your brain...

[avalon42]

...I am in the hiring process for my dept.

I am thinking ahead of to my oral board panel. I know they are going to ask me what skills I can bring to the table. I know from talking to various officers in the dept that the Chief really wants to bring back our Motors/Traffic enforcement (the last guy lateraled out to another agency about 6-7 months ago).

I have a Class C and M1 classification on my license, but I haven't rode since I got the certified (no $ for a bike). I don't want to bring it up if that counts as a weakness.

Also, I heard that you can get specialized training for law enforcement's way of riding and handling bikes. Is this true?

Thanks a bunch.

[LA DEP]

...I am in the hiring process for my dept.

I am thinking ahead of to my oral board panel. I know they are going to ask me what skills I can bring to the table. I know from talking to various officers in the dept that the Chief really wants to bring back our Motors/Traffic enforcement (the last guy lateraled out to another agency about 6-7 months ago).

I have a Class C and M1 classification on my license, but I haven't rode since I got the certified (no $ for a bike). I don't want to bring it up if that counts as a weakness.

Also, I heard that you can get specialized training for law enforcement's way of riding and handling bikes. Is this true?

Thanks a bunch.

Yes, you WILL get sent to a POST Basic Motor School by your agency......and the skill set for riding a police motor is completely different from riding on the street....mostly low speed stuff, in VERY tight cone patterns.....plan on crashing often the first couple of days:D

[Socal-Cop]

Honestly.. from what I've heard .. most people with little or no bike experience do better than people who have been riding bikes .. They say you get bad riding habits from previous experience

[avalon42]

Does the POST Basic Motors course cover dirt bikes? Because that's the only bike they have right now.

[LA DEP]

Does the POST Basic Motors course cover dirt bikes? Because that's the only bike they have right now.

Dirt Bikes are a whole other ball game.....I know we have some Motorcross bikes...(legal on/off road) for off road enforcement, but that is an OT gig last time I heard....

Andy5746 is a motor sgt for us.....he could probably give you better info

[IMachU]

We have a bunch of 4X4 ATVs we use for off-road enforcement. We have an 8 hour training class, kind of a CYA class for liability. But I haven't heard of any POST courses for dirt bikes/ATVs (there is one for 4X4 trucks for ORV enforcement).

[Fuzz]

In most departments you will be required to take a POST certified motor academy on whatever street bike your department uses (Kawi, HD, BMW,Honda). There are separate POST approved courses for offroad dirtbike enforcement bikes. Sometimes the best candidates are those that have no prior bike experience so no bad habits to break. Sounds like a good idea to bring up in your interview if you can fit it in the right place. Good luck.


Go here and look at the Motor courses on POSTS list...it will give you a brief description of the different types of courses offered.

http://post.ca.gov/Publications/Course_Catalog/html_M.asp