West Island police using fat bikes to patrol tough terrain
Police in Montreal’s West Island have adopted a new way of patrolling dense forests and snowed-out trails.
Officers in Kirkland are riding fat bikes.
“A fat bike is like a regular bike but with fat tires. So the tires are actually bigger and wider. These tires are four and a half inches wide,” says Olivier Archambault, a Montreal police officer.
The station is expanding its fleet of the specialized officers, who can weave through dense brush and icy terrain to administer first aid.
“We have the snow shoes which help us to walk in the woods if we need to go off the trails, we’ve got first aid kits, we’ve got some plans and maps of the different parks in the area,” says Archambault.
About 40 per cent of the area they patrol comprises parks, fields and forests—some too dense for a police car or an ATV.
Archambault and Sylvain Brousseau were the first officers in Montreal to pick up the novel form of transportation and now patrol the forests every day.
“When someone calls 911, in snowy conditions like today, and they’re experiencing hypothermia, someone on a fat bike can get to them more easily,” says Brousseau.
The bikes are also helpful when searching for a missing person because they can access forested areas where other officers may not go.
Brousseau says he hopes this initiative will help change a common belief among residents that police won’t venture into the woods.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Pilot reported fire onboard plane carrying fuel, attempted to return to Fairbanks just before crash
One of the two pilots aboard an airplane carrying fuel reported there was a fire on the airplane shortly before it crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both people on board, a federal aviation official said Wednesday.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.