The City of Carlsbad Police Department has implemented a Bike Patrol Unit for our "peak season" Summer months that brings more people to the beach and Village. The department was looking for a highly motivated team for a summertime education and enforcement detail. The team was started to address quality of life issues on the seawall, the village and park areas. Selected were Officers Steve Tashoff, Kam Valentine and Julie Martinson for a dedicated three officer Bike Patrol Unit. All three are school resource officers which allowed us to staff the detail during the summer months without pulling resources from other patrol responsibilities. They will be full time from 06/17/19-08/16/19. The will be working Monday through Friday and their hours will adjust as needed to address identified community concerns.
The bike patrol unit will be responsible for, but not limited to, the downtown area, the seawall, crosswalk enforcement, the north end of Ocean Street and the coastal area from Cannon Park the north city limits. One member attends weekly meetings held to identify current crime trends in the city and to develop efficient enforcement strategies. The team will be utilizing bike patrol, foot patrols, marked vehicles and the new co-use ATV for beach patrol.
The co-use ATV is a unique concept, and a cost-saving idea, implemented by Carlsbad Public Safety. There was a partial need by several divisions for an all-terrain vehicle that could access the trail systems and beaches. You may have already seen the gray Polaris Ranger on the beach. The vehicle is currently shared by police, fire, rangers, bike patrol unit and the newly implemented lifeguard program. The ATV has already been instrumental in the rescue/transportation of injured cyclist’ and hikers on the trail system and is being used on the beaches every weekend through the summer by the lifeguards.
Officer Steve Tashoff volunteered to be to the point of contact for the BPU. He has over 16 years of law enforcement experience (and was a former Homicide Detective). If your members have any questions or concerns that the BPU might be able to address please feel free to have the contact Steve directly at Stephan.Tashoff@carlsbadca.gov.