Original Article Officers' 2-wheel cruisers take them to conference Holly Johnson The Arizona Republic Apr. 23, 2005 12:00 AM SCOTTSDALE - The Nashville cops wore yellow and hung homemade nameplates from matching mountain bikes as they headed out for a ride. The Pittsburgh guys were all business, clad in black streamlined uniforms with "police" emblazoned on their backs, and the Louisiana folks sported head-to-toe blue (but opted for shorts, thanks to the heat) as they bellied up to the buffet table before hopping on their bikes again. They were part of a coterie of police and EMT bike units from 34 states and eight countries that swarmed Scottsdale streets this week as part of the International Police Mountain Bike Association's 15th-annual conference and product exhibition. The weeklong activities brought more than 200 bike officers from across the globe together to Scottsdale's Chaparral Suites Resort, the conference headquarters. Since Monday hundreds of officers, EMTs and fire personnel endured rigorous training, navigated sophisticated obstacle courses and talked shop. "Basically, the best thing about this is networking with people from all over the world and meeting people who do the same thing you do," said Tom Harris, a Baton Rouge, La.-based EMT who serves as public service coordinator for the parish's Department of Emergency Medical Services. Baton Rouge will host the association conference in 2008, and Harris is every bit the proud papa. On Friday, he jovially worked the crowd of cops, pausing to promise Scottsdale Sgt. Chris Wilson they'd go "gator-huntin' " during the 2008 conference. The association was created in 1990 as the result of resurgence in community-oriented police initiatives. "Our purpose primarily is to provide the highest-quality and most technically advanced training we can for our public-safety cyclists," said association President Monte May, from Kansas City, Mo. "We have an entry-level course we teach all the time, and offer a highly advanced course for instructors. There's a lot of liability in cycling - in some cases, cycling in traffic can be more dangerous than shooting on a firing range - so we have to make sure everyone knows what they're doing." Scottsdale police's Wilson, who oversees the department's nine-person bike unit, said officers on bikes facilitate a greater sense of trust, visibility and community. And while the unit has been working virtually non-stop for the past few weeks to ensure the conference came off without a hitch, he thinks it's worth it. "This is great, because you're getting people from eight countries out here," he said. "You're getting to trade tips and talk. Cops love to tell war stories, and this lets us learn different ways of doing business and get ideas from other departments. A huge part of law enforcement is the community aspect, getting together and sharing and taking care of each other. This lets us make contacts like in any other business." The pre-conference training courses culminated on Friday, and bike units kicked off the weekend conference with a parade from Chaparral Suites to El Dorado Park, capped off by an evening skills competition featuring nearly 100 bike cops. Reach the reporter at holly.johnson@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-6849.