Police motorcycle loaded for the road and speeders
Published 11:41 am Thursday, December 11, 2008
By Dennis Box
The Courier-Herald
When Bonney Lake speeders get stopped by Officer Vince Sainati, they can brag about being corralled by the newest addition to the city force, an 1,100 cc BMW motorcycle.
The motorcycle is loaded with features including heated handgrips, an adjustable windshield that moves up or down with the touch of a button and an antilock braking systems.
Besides the necessary police light package using light emitting diodes, the bike has a battery-operated radar gun and all the goodies an officer needs on patrol.
“This bike stops a lot faster and is more stable,” Sainati said.
The 850-pound bike gets about 50 miles to a gallon of gas and has a 7-gallon tank. Sainati said he fills it about once each week.
The bike is a load if it goes down, but Sainati said he can put it back up by himself.
“That's the first thing they teach you in school is how to pick it up yourself without injuring your back,” he said.
The motorcycle replaces the city's Kawasaki, which had been used for the past two years. The city decided to go with the BMW model because Kawasaki stopped producing its police model in 2004.
The BMW cost the city $18,500 and was purchased in July. The Kawasaki is used for training and as a backup vehicle.
The Bonney Lake Police Department has used the services of a motorcycle patrol the past three years.
Sainati said the advantages of bike patrol is “maneuverability and I can sit where a car can't. I can also get to a collision on (state Route) 410 when all the lanes are blocked, usually before a the EMS (emergency medical services) and patrol cars.”
The disadvantage of motorcycle patrol, according to Sainati, is drivers not paying attention.
“Almost every day someone comes close to hitting me,” Sainati said. “Even with all the reflective equipment I wear.”
The 40-year-old Sainati is the only motorcycle officer on the city's force. He has been an officer for 16 years, a Bonney Lake officer since 1992 and the city's motorcycle officer for the past three years.
Last year Sainati wrote nearly 1,200 citations and he averages about 10 to 15 each day he works, depending on the number of collisions he investigates.
Dennis Box can be reached at dbox@cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/courierherald.
