Police, local bike shops team up to repair bicycles in Pleasant Hill neighborhood
Despite the cool, damp weather Saturday, about 50 Pleasant Hill residents stopped by to have their bikes repaired or tuned up as part of a Bike Day organized by the Saskatoon Police Service‘s Community Mobilization Unit. Mechanics from the Bike Doctor, Outtabounds, and Doug’s Spoke N’ Sport tackled everything that rolled — or was carried — their way, from flat tires to bikes that arrived in pieces.
Kelsie Fraser, senior public affairs consultant with SPS, said the pop-up repair shop came in response to a community need identified by officers. “While walking their beat, members of the Community Mobilization Unit frequently saw people riding bikes that appeared to be in need of repair or a tune-up,” says Fraser. “They reached out to local bike shops to see if they could organize an event to help out the community by focusing on bike repair.”
While this was the first event of its kind, based on the strong response from neighbourhood residents, Saskatoon Police Service is already talking about hosting more Bike Days in spring 2021, with the addition of information on how to register a bike with SPS.
Fraser says that, besides being able to make a tangible difference for the riders who stopped by, these types of neighbourhood events are also a great way to create and build new relationships with the community.
“Our Community Mobilization Unit has done an outstanding job of reaching out to the community in which they patrol in a very short time,” says Fraser. “This is just another one of those very positive examples.”
Pictured in the photo at top are Constable Chan (left) and Constable Boehm.
Photo Credit: Saskatoon Police Service
