MARION - One way to meet a state trooper on the new motorcycle patrol is to speed.

He'll introduce himself and possibly give you a citation as a souvenir of the visit. Catching speeders is one of the motorcycle patrol's specialties.

The Illinois State Police and the Illinois Department of Transportation unveiled part of the new state motorcycle patrol Tuesday in Marion. To debut the patrol, the officers will be active in the area in extra force for a few days. Then the six officers who are assigned to Southern Illinois will begin their standard patrol duties.

The main focus of the motorcycle patrol is highway safety, specifically enforcing against what state police have termed the "Fatal Five" violations - speeding, seat belts, improper lane usage, following too closely and DUI.

Troopers in squad cars can do those things, too, but the motorcycles provide some added benefits. They are more maneuverable through heavy traffic, for one thing.

"The motorcycle officers can provide rapid response at crash scenes," Col. Charles Brueggeman said. "They can get to the crash scene more quickly than their four-wheeled counterparts because they are so much more maneuverable in dense traffic."

Motorcycle patrol officers who can weave in to the actual crash scene can immediately begin restoring order, Brueggeman said. They will be able to administer emergency first aid, contact the right emergency medical response personnel and begin arrangements for tow trucks if necessary.

That will also serve the secondary purpose of getting a crash scene removed from the roadway more quickly, reducing the chances for secondary crashes caused by road blockage from the primary crash, Brueggeman said.

Another benefit is raising motorists' awareness of motorcycles on the road.

"Our focus will be primarily on the 'Fatal Five' but we think if we are doing motorcycle patrols, people will begin looking for us," Master Sgt. David Taylor, commanding officer for the motorcycle platoon in Southern Illinois, said. "If people start thinking that a motorcycle rider might be a police officer, maybe they'll pay a little more attention."

"The mind doesn't seem to register a motorcycle in the same way as a car or a Mack truck," Trooper Ray Minor, one of the Southern Illinois motorcycle patrol officers, said. "Seventy percent of motorcycle fatalities occur at intersections. People just don't see motorcycles. Even if they slow down for a split second (to see if the motorcycle on the road belongs to a police officer) it could very well save lives."

Minor noted that the motorcycle-rider camaraderie noticeable among civilian bikers extends to the motorcycle officers, too. The low-down wave passing motorcyclists give each other is offered to the cops on Harleys, too.

"(Other motorcyclists) still wave," Minor said. "There is a camaraderie among motorcyclists that goes way back. It's tradition."

"It's amazing - it takes me 20 minutes to get gas," Taylor said, commenting on the interest from the public the new motorcycles have generated.

There is currently a statewide total of 42 motorcycles in the State Police Motorcycle Enforcement Bureau, Brueggeman said, and the troopers who filled those spots had to compete for the opportunity to do so.

Prospective motorcycle troopers had to ace an obstacle course before even getting the chance to put in for an interview for the job. Other hurdles included a written test and the interview.

"They had a two-week training course specifically for police riding styles," Brueggeman said. "We wanted to be sure the officers we put through the training would make it."

The patrol is set to go, weather permitting, year-round, Taylor said. It begins now.

andrea.hahn@thesouthern.com

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