A DETACHMENT of riot cops on bicycles helped snare the suspect in a Blackbird Leys stabbing.

Swapping their visored-hard hats for peaked bicycle helmets, the officers on two-wheels are a new tool in Thames Valley Police’s armoury.

As well as policing events like Reading Festival, the peloton police are being used to patrol estates like The Leys following stabbings or to snare drug pushers working for out-of-town County Lines gangs. There are plans for them to work with specialist units to confront paedophiles after set-up meetings with ‘decoy’ profiles operated by undercover officers.

The unit is at least in part the brainchild of PC Iestyn Llewellyn, a public order policing trainer based at Thames Valley’s base on the former Upper Heyford airfield.

Dreamt up in 2019, it was two years before the first group of six constables and one sergeant were operational.

“A lot of people laughed at it because it sounded a bit rubbish,” plain-talking Mr Llewellyn told reporters yesterday.

They’re not laughing now.

“We started off with 22 [trained officers] in our first intake. We’re now up to 56 cycle cops,” he said.

A group of seven officers show their mettle during an hour-long demonstration. The unit showed how they can surround and disarm a knifeman, use their bikes to form a roadblock and create a cycle-cade to protect a VIP as they walk.

Each officer is equipped with a police-issue ACME Thunderer whistle, blowing it like a siren as they pushed through the network of mocked-up streets at Thames Valley’s airfield training ground.

“It’s super-effective, super-safe,” the trainer said with a grin. On one of their recent training courses they used the whistle-siren in a real-life emergency as they stopped to help a woman who had fallen and split open her head. 

A further two courses are planned. On each five-day course, 14 officers will be put through their paces learning everything from how to fix a puncture to how to skid across a fleeing suspect.

Mr Llewellyn said: “The standards are quite high. Ultimately, they’re going to be a YouTube sensation if they mess-up.” The purpose of the training is to ensure a ‘professional body of cops out there portraying us in a professional light’, he added.

The bikes are all British-made Forme Curbar 1 aluminium-framed hardtail mountain bikes that, together with custom upgrades, are worth around £1,000 each. They were sourced through Pankhurst Cycles in Pangbourne.

Shop owner Toby Davies said: “For me, with my values, to be involved with Thames Valley Police, to be making a difference to the community – it’s a big smile every day.”

Chief Constable John Campbell said: “Cops on bikes aren’t a new thing. It’s a great way of getting out in the community. But this is a tactic we’re using more for public order. There’s a great deal of flexibility with these officers. If you’re at something like Reading Festival, these officers can get very quickly to various locations you wouldn’t do on foot.”

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This story was written by Tom Seaward. He joined the team in 2021 as Oxfordshire's court and crime reporter.  

To get in touch with him email: Tom.Seaward@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @t_seaward