Police motorcycle

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BMW police motorcycle in Germany

A Harley-Davidson police motorcycle in Hamburg, Germany

A police motorcycle is a motorcycle used by various police forces/departments. They may be custom designed to meet the requirements unique of a particular use. A police motorcycle is often called a "motor" by police officers in the United States. Similarly, motorcycle units are known as "motor units," and motorcycle officers are known as "motor officers."

Due to the drawbacks of exposure to the weather, motorcycle patrols are more common in temperate urban areas with heavy traffic or on high-speed highways. The maneuverability of the motorcycle on crowded streets offer advantages not provided by larger, more traditional police vehicles.

The motorcycle's relatively small size allows it to get to accident scenes more quickly when incidents such as traffic collisions slow down access by four-wheel vehicles. They also consume less fuel than police cars, which saves costs for the users.

1 History
2 Motorcycles used
3 In popular culture
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

A motor officer writes a traffic ticket for a motorist caught speeding

Police officers have used motorcycles—primarily for the enforcement of traffic laws and as escort vehicles—since the early 20th century.

Chief August Vollmer of the Berkeley, California Police Department is credited with organizing the first official police motorcycle patrol in the United States in 1911.^[1] However, several police forces around the country reported using motorcycles as patrol vehicles earlier. The police department in Evanston, Illinois purchased a belt-driven motorcycle for its first motorcycle police officer in 1908,^[2] and the Portland, Oregon Police Bureau had a police officer who used his personal motorcycle to patrol the city as early as 1909.^[3]

The role of the motorcycle as inexpensive public transportation devolved in the 1930s, and their use by police and the armed forces also grew, providing a stable production market for the more utilitarian machines, especially as Europe rearmed after World War I.^[4]

[edit] Motorcycles used

A Honda VFR800P police motorcycle in Japan

A Victoria Police BMW R1150RT

French gendarme on a Yamaha FJR1300

Police motorcycles in the United States typically use purpose-built motorcycles marketed by Harley-Davidson, Kawasaki, Honda, or BMW. Kawasaki Police Motorcycles, which were built for the US market in Lincoln, Nebraska, ceased production in September 2005.

In Germany, BMW is by far the largest provider of motorcycles for authority use.^{[citation needed]}

In the United Kingdom the most common police motorcycles are the BMW RT series, the Honda ST series and the Yamaha FJR1300, although most forces have withdrawn the ST1300 Pan European since the death of an officer was blamed on the machine.^[5] Some police forces also use scooters within towns.

In 2004, BMW claimed to be the largest seller of motorcycles for authority use, as more than 80,000 BMW motorcycles were in official use in over 150 countries on five continents.^[6] BMW produce police-specific models such as the R1200RT and R900RT, the latter not available to the general public. More than 140 U.S. law enforcement agencies, including the California Highway Patrol, had BMW authority motorcycles in their fleets of patrol vehicles.

Harley-Davidson has maintained a long relationship with police departments and law-enforcement agencies.^[7] As of 2007, Harley-Davidson offered the FLHTP Electra Glide, the FLHP Road King and the XL883 Sportster in police and fire/rescue editions.