In the summer of 1997, the Williams College Campus Safety Services (CSS) Department began a bike patrol program. In addition to being more environmentally-friendly than total reliance on motor vehicles, the bike patrol program makes the officer on patrol better able to interact with members of the Williams community. Also, an officer on a bike is better able to observe their surroundings. Given the nature of this campus, it has also been found that officers on bikes can often respond to emergency situations more quickly than those in cars.
CSS has hosted bike patrol training programs were CSS officers are trained, along with officers from other colleges and universities, as well as police officers from local and regional Police Departments. The most recent Police Mountain Bike Training was held in July 2017 on the Williams College Campus. We now have 18 Campus Safety Services Officers/staff members who are trained for bike patrol duties.
Participants in the July 2008 training included Campus Safety Services officers from the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and Williams College, police officers from the Whately, Adams and Pittsfield Police Departments, as well as members of the Massachusetts Environmental Police.