"It is a very effective program," said Brown. "From a health [standpoint] ... and kids have an easier time approaching an officer on a bicycle."

Officers who participate in the unit are required to attend a school for certification where they are taught bike safety, maintenance, riding techniques, tactile dismounts, suspect approach techniques, legal issues and emergency skills.

Rose said that the certification process aids in training officers to use their bikes as a weapon.

"We (Auburn police) all ride one per car," said Rose. "So we have to make sure they are all well trained enough to be able to function and do what they need to do on their own."

But officers can ride a bike without attending the 40-hour training course with approval from the chief.

"They can help me with crowd control at AuburnFest or Fourth of July," she said. "But in order to use it defensively, there is a course that they have to take ... there are various ways to manipulate the bike and use it as a tool, say you’re chasing after somebody, there are certain [tactics] ... they teach you the proper way to do it," Rose said.

The purpose of the Bike Unit is to perform patrol duties, community relations and crime prevention. It places officers in the community where they are most available to the general public, where they can work side by side with the people of the community to reduce crime, stop personal injury and promote a positive image of law enforcement.

"I think it’s a great tool," Rose said. "I wish a lot of other departments would get back into it. It serves as a real good benefit, not only for us as the officers as far a physical fitness goes, but it’s an extension, a ... tool that departments can use. If you are trying to mend bridges or get more active with your community it’s a good tool to use. It brings you ... closer to people," she said.

Officers who ride a bike not only help to reduce fuel usage, they have more one-on-one contact and communication with citizens which allows them to get better acquainted with the residents in their city, aiding them in finding solutions to problems citizens may face.

Officer Rose said that’s one of the main reasons she wanted to be a part of the Bike Patrol Unit, it really gets her "into the community."

It was Rose’s idea to implement the Bike Unit and when she presented the idea to the chief she said he told her to "start from ground zero, get me quotes ... let me know how much uniforms are going to cost, bikes, equipment."

"I had to plan this whole thing out," Rose said. "From square one ... There are certain speculations, like in the winter time if it’s below 40 [degrees], we won’t ride or in the summer time if it’s above 95 [degrees] we won’t ride."

Another safety regulation is that in order to ride, there must be at least three officers on shift.

"That way there are at least two other officers in patrol cars," Rose said. "They can respond quicker than I can if a hot call comes up."

Rose typically rides her patrol car to a subdivision or location and then retrieves her bike from the rack and takes to the streets on her cycle.

Rose said she loves to ride.

"The department benefits from [the Bike Unit] ... when we had the gas crunch, it requires no gas, it just requires my energy. It’s just an extension of the Police Department. It can go where police cars can’t go, so if you have someone fleeing on foot, I can get through the woods ... whereas a car cannot," she said.

"As far as the community goes, It’s just a little more [personal]. A lot of people are intimidated walking up to [police] cars to talk to us, to give us important information about maybe drug activity or neighborhood activity that seems out of the ordinary ... on a bike, they can walk right up to me," Rose explained.

Auburn P.D. has found other ways to combat high gas prices. The city has raised its traffic fines to aid in covering some of the higher fuel costs and the take-home policy for vehicles has also been changed.

"During the month of October we received over $900 in fuel surcharge, fuel recovery money ... so at this rate we’ll probably be able to cut our fuel cost about 50 percent," Brown said. "From the additional fines that we are attaching to the cases that we have ... we should be able to recover half of our costs."

Brown is continually looking at the growth of the city and how his department can continue to provide services at low costs.

The proposed mixed-use development for the new downtown overlay district may require a new police precinct and Brown said he his considering incorporating electric scooters to the department at that time.