0 0 8 custom alchemy for 2011 riding the beat in ... - Harley-News

7:48 AM
Motorcycle Officer Curt Rueda
reports for duty at 4715 W. Vliet
Street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Inside the “Neighborhood Task Force” (NTF) headquarters,
officers from the tactical, street crimes, and motorcycle units
are briefed on the day’s activities. Assignments are given,
weapons are checked.
Then it’s time to hit the streets: specifically, an approximately
20- by 30-block neighborhood filled with tree-lined streets,
schools, small businesses, and modest homes in various states
of repair. Clearly once a more “upscale” neighborhood than it
is now, it has been identified by Chief of Police Edward Flynn as
needing special attention, as gang activity continues to disturb
the peace of law-abiding citizens.
Under the year-old NTF program, the role of the mounted
officers has changed. Instead of responding to calls that come
through dispatch and working accident investigation, as they had
done in the past, the “bike men” now operate more independently.
They proactively patrol the streets, maintaining a presence and
keeping an eye out for suspicious activity. Sometimes they make
business calls, dropping in on local stores and shops, chatting with
the staff, and taking the pulse of neighborhood activity.
“It’s probably not as exciting as it used to be,” Rueda says.
“But I have to say [the new approach] is working. Crime is down
in Milwaukee. Especially in this neighborhood.”
... 8:51 am ...
Officer Rueda makes his first traffic stop of
the day. It’s a car with no license plate. He talks with the
driver for a moment, then returns to his motorcycle to run a
check on the driver. A fellow officer rides casually by, and he
and Rueda exchange nods. Brilliant late-summer sunshine
bathes the sidewalk as a woman appears from a house nearby
carrying some papers. She’s the car’s owner; the driver is her
father. She explains the car was purchased only recently and
does not yet have a valid license plate. Nonetheless, it’s illegal
to be driving with no plates and no registration. Officer Rueda
issues a verbal warning and sends them on their way.
What may seem like surprisingly lenient treatment actually
makes sense in the bigger picture. The Milwaukee motorcycle
On the Job Clockwise, from top left: The streets are quiet this Wednesday morning; One of many routine traffic stops that Officer Rueda conducts in a day;
Waiting and watching; “Shop checks” are a routine part of Rueda’s day.
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