Lloyd Police Chief James Janso said, “it has been twenty-plus years since we’ve had the bike patrols as part of the department. We had them back in the mid 1990s and it kind of fell by the wayside.” He said when the opportunity to revive it arose, “I took advantage of it.”

Chief Janso said he now has two officers who patrol the rail trail from the Walkway Over the Hudson, and on it if needed, out west to South Street. They can even cover the Highland Hamlet as well, “but mainly it’s geared toward the Rail Trail just to be an asset there if people need them to monitor any issues like disorderly conduct, drinking or littering. There is a whole plethora of things they can be looking for, but mostly I want our community to see them out there and to feel safe on the rail trail and know that they’re there to help.”

Janso said they are full time officers, “and they can be on the rail trail on weekends, holidays and at any kind of town function, depending on hours and availability. We’ll try to get them out there as much as we can and be visible and part of the community.”

Janso said this revival came about after discussions about bikers speeding and homeless people on the Rail Trail.

“We had the bikes at our station, and the rail trail was kind enough to pay for the repairs to upgrade the bikes, and Mark Elia donated his labor and the helmets for us,” he said. “It was a combined community effort between the rail trail, GPA’s Bike Shop [Elia] and us to get it back in operation. Without all of that help we probably wouldn’t have it back in service.”

Janso said his two officers – Jesse Vail and Joshua Tucker – are bike certified, which is a five-day course they attended.

Vail said he was certified in 2017 and previously worked for the Shawangunk Police Department.

“If we see a violation, we can call it out and have the road patrol come to assess. We’re not going to do anything in length as it’s more for community policing and the safety aspect. I think our presence alone will help with the behavior of the bike riders as far as interacting with pedestrians,” he said.

Officer Tucker received his bike certification in 2009 through the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and previously worked with the Hyde Park Police Department.

“I patrolled the Heritage Trail, which is their version of the rail trail in Orange County,” he said. “In Hyde Park I patrolled the parade routes and when calls came in we’d respond on bikes.”

Hudson Valley Rail Trail Association President Peter Bellizzi said, “It’s right that they’re out there now and I’ve always asked for a presence, a little bit here and there.”

As far as adding more bike patrol officers in the future, Supervisor Dave Plavchak said that while funding is an important consideration, he would first like to, “find this to be successful. As you know, it’s hard to enforce stuff on the trail because you don’t have speed limits and a mechanism to enforce it, but if a presence helps it, then obviously more of a presence will help it more.”

Plavchak said the Ulster County Sheriff’s Office has been patrolling the entire trail in the county with ATVs.

“So we’ll get some feedback from them and like anything, you take all of that feedback and everything you’ve learned from this and apply it,” he said.

Elia rehabilitated two, 21-speed Trek bikes for the officers. He said they are a little dated but, “they are good solid bikes and I am going to see what I can do to get them upgraded. I’m glad I was a part of this because I definitely want to see safety on this rail trail. The more popular this trail gets, the more we have to worry about things happening.”