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FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live) – Fargo Police have found a new way to combat crime, and it comes on three wheels.
“We use them on the roads. We can get from point a to point b a lot faster,” said Lacey Bunkelman of the Fargo Police Department.
Fargo Police have added four brand-new trikkes. The first time they brought out the trikes were at Saturday’s Fargo Marathon.
“We did strategically place the trikkes in downtown to help with marathon-related concerns and issues,” said Lieutenant Travis Moser of the Fargo Police Department.
Both officers, Jonas Duncan and Lacey Bunkelman, see how effective they are in response time and maneuvering in the downtown area.
“One of the big advantages is that when something does come out, maybe it’s in close quarters, it’s maybe in the front of a building tucked back in an alleyway or something like that,” said Officer Jonas Duncan of the Fargo Police Department. “They can reach up to maximum 44 mph, so they do have the opportunity to go up to higher speeds then, such as if we were just on a bicycle patrol,” said Bunkelman.
Both Duncan and Bunkelman tell me they like being on them because of their interactions with the community.
“People are constantly waving at us, pointing at us, saying oh those are so cool, so the engagement piece is really awesome, and it’s just more personable being on them and being able to interact with the community,” said Bunkelman. “I can say for sure I’ve talked to way more people on one of those trikes than I ever have when I’ve been driving around in a squad car,” said Duncan.
You can expect to see the trikkes in the downtown Fargo area over the summer and events such as the Fargo Street Fair in July.
