Police on bikes making trails safer

The sheriff’s offices of Amherst and Nelson counties have joined forces to help keep some local hiking and biking trails safer for outdoor enthusiasts.

In July, members of the Amherst County Sheriff’s Office began using bikes to patrol lengths of the Blue Ridge Railway Trail that extend through Piney River and into both counties.

“We just go out there periodically and just patrol it,” Amherst Deputy Louis Goldman said. “Just to let the public know that we are a presence there and just in case something happens.”

Nelson County Sheriff David Brooks said the idea to patrol the trail came after members of the Blue Ridge Railway Trail Foundation approached him. His office does not currently have bikes available for deputies to use to patrol the trail, so that led to the joint effort with the Amherst County Sheriff’s Office, which does have bikes.

“We want people who use the trail to know that law enforcement is out there,” Brooks said.

The deputies can also be available if someone were to get hurt on the trails, Brooks said, and can help administer first aid or call for help, especially in some areas of the trail where cell phones won’t work but radios will.

Emily Harper, director of the Nelson County Parks and Recreation Department, said the trail is popular and well-used on both sides of the county line. She said the trail is mainly used for walking, bike riding or walking pets.

Goldman and Amherst’s Lt. Danny Gowen and Lt. Craig Davis are part of the program and patrol the section of the trail on bikes whenever they get the chance. They also patrol the parts of the Blackwater Creek trail that go through portions of Amherst County.

Gowen said there haven’t been any incidents on the trail so far and, to his knowledge, the deputies who patrol the trail haven’t even had to issue a verbal warning to anyone.

Just having a presence will deter people from doing illegal things, Gowen said.

Goldman said the bikes also make the deputies more approachable to the public.

“It kinda takes that chunk of metal away from you, and it puts you more on a one-to-one basis with people,” he said. “Even adults, they want to check out the bikes, and you start a conversation about the bikes themselves.”

Brooks said, in the future, Nelson deputies will help patrol the trails as well.

Amherst deputies plan to continue to patrol the trail until the weather gets bad, Goldman said.