Reston District Station Chief Wants More Bike Cops On Local Trails

RESTON, VA — The head of the Fairfax County Police Department's Reston District Station says he's hoping to increase police presence on area bike trails, and is pushing to get some more officers to do that.

Since taking over as commander of the district station back in 2015, Capt. Ronald Manzo told Patch in a phone interview that he has worked to make police officers more visible on the bike trails and the surrounding community, but he's now hoping to get some auxiliary officers to provide even more presence on Reston trails.

"We have a challenge with resources and number of officers," Manzo said. "Right now, I have six, but I'm trying to bring in auxiliaries to ride as well. I think that would be great."

Manzo said he also supports using what are known as inter-bureau transfers to help do the job.

"They can ride for 90 days with the bike team," he said. "That helps me increase numbers and visibility on trails as well."

Today, the Reston District Station has 107 officers -- along with 30 staffers -- covering 56 square miles and about 50 miles of bike trails, so finding the manpower to cover such a large area is a challenge. However, Manzo said he's seeing his effort to put officers on bike trails and in the community pay dividends.

"That's proven to be very effective, to the extent that we've made some arrests where an officer is out walking and the victim will run up saying their phone was taken and what not," he said. "They'll point out the suspect and the officer will give chase and make the arrest."

Manzo said there hasn't been any surge in crime on bike trails, he just feels the need for more patrols there because Reston is increasingly becoming a bike-centric town.

"If anyone's going there with the idea of going to commit some kind of crime, hopefully they'll see my bike guys on the trail," he said.

Image via FCPD