Police Promote Bike Safety Tomorrow
Ford City Police Sgt. John Atherton and other borough officers will register bicycles and go for a ride along the Armstrong Trail tomorrow as part of "Bike Day in the Park."
by Jonathan Weaver
A local police agency will promote bike safety tomorrow through a free event.
The Ford City “Bike Day in the Park” will allow children and adults to register their bicycles, ride along the Armstrong Trail and have fun Saturday beginning at 10AM.
Ford City Police Officer Jake Ingram described the day’s planned activities.
“We’ll have kids bring their bikes down and the first thing we do is register their bikes in a database we have and a registration sticker on their bicycle, so if their bikes are ever lost or stolen and someone recovers one, we look that sticker up in our database and we can return the bikes,” Ingram said. “Then, we have lunch donated by Big Bear’s Pizza and Pepsi Co. and other businesses around town that donated food, and I have DJ Voodoo coming down who offered to donate his services for the day,” Ingram said.
Approximately six police officers will also offer a bicycle safety course after lunch before a ride down the Armstrong Trail.
Ingram said local businesses also pitched in to donate funds to help raffle off some new wheels.
“We were able to raise over $1,000 in cash donations to go towards bicycles and accessories to be donated and raffled to the children and probably a ballpark of $500-$600 in food donations and entertainment,” Ingram said. “It’s been a rough uphill battle, but I think it’s going to be a nice time – there’s sunshine at the end of the tunnel waiting for everybody.”
Ingram can be found riding around the borough on a police bicycle and hopes the event is offered for consecutive years.
“The idea came up at the beginning of summer time and I decided to put the hammer-down and make it happen. “I do bicycle patrol through the police department and I really enjoy it. I think it’s a great way to get a lot of community relations built up and build a little trust.
“We’ve done this in the past – it’s been a few years since we’ve done it – but we’re trying to restart a tradition,” Ingram said. “There are a lot of low-income kids in that community and they don’t get to go away for the summer – a lot get to go to Idlewild or Kennywood for the day, but a lot of them don’t have that,” Ingram said. “If we as a department can give the kids one day out of the summer that they had some fun, that’s what it’s about to me. And that’s why I decided we’re going to do this.”
Borough Secretary Lisa Bittner registered her bike two decades ago and will volunteer her time tomorrow to help with the registration process. However, she won’t be able to ride along the trail.
“My 15-year-old son was riding it with his friends and they broke the chain and did something else to the gears,” Bittner said. “I think it’s beyond what the police can fix.”
Ford City Police Sgt. John Atherton said approximately 1,000 bikes are registered within the borough, but said that number is an accumulation over time and needs changed.
“That needs updated periodically when people change their bikes when they grow, so utilization of these programs give people the opportunity to re-register their bikes in a central location and inspect them to make sure they are road-safe,” Atherton said.
Ford City Mayor Marc Mantini promoted the event at a recent meeting of borough council and will also be at the event periodically throughout the day.