Motorcycle units are utilized by police departments throughout the country for many reasons, some of which are general operating costs, maneuverability, and ceremonial purposes. The vast majority of departments that have motorcycle units take the roll very seriously and ensure its officers are highly trained on department-issued bikes.
Each year Yonkers Police Department holds a Police Motorcycle School comprised of highly-certified and skilled instructors from throughout the New York and Connecticut area. Over the years the school has grown from your average program into a finely tuned curriculum filled with physically challenging and intellectually stimulating exercises.
As you will see in the video below, officers have a long ten days ahead of them when they first start. Although all officers have some riding experience going into the course, certain maneuvers push them to their limits causing them to drop a few bikes. Fortunately, the school is a healthy learning environment and instructors expect students to drop their bike a few times. After all, it is better to find your limit in school then on the street. As the video indicates, a large portion drops occur while the students participate in challenging cone work at Empire City Casino in Yonkers. Each student goes through a curriculum of close-quarter turns, slalom, emergency braking, and much more before the class hits the road.
In just over six minutes you get to see the dedicated officers go from run-of-the-mill riders to true motorcycle cops. With an extremely high program success rate, participating departments can be confident their officers will come back to headquarters with the knowledge and skills needed to suit their district.
Over time the riders become more confident and venture offroad over a series of different terrains including sand, grass, gravel and even some aerial work (at 2:28). Before the school comes to a close officers become confident in night operations, offroad operations, emergency/evasive maneuvers, motorcycle maintenance and much more. Good luck to all the newly graduated officers, stay safe and ride on.
The 2017 Yonkers Police Motorcycle School instructors are comprised of:
Yonkers PoliceMTA PoliceNYPDYorktown PoliceNew Castle PoliceGreenburgh PoliceBedford PoliceClarkstown PoliceDutchess CountyPutnam CountyWestchester County PoliceStamford (CT) Police
The 2017 Yonkers Police Motorcycle School students are comprised of: