Police are figuring out how to save money

It's wild - I'm not even sure it was a year ago that I was asking the question about WHEN gas prices would start affecting our every day lives.

Well - I think we finally have an answer...

$4 per gallon!

Is FINALLY starting to really cause things to get stirred up.

More scooters are selling. More small cars are selling.
SUV's and big trucks are NOT selling.

And another important indicator...

Police departments are starting to dust off their old bicycles from 20 and 30 years ago.

Check out this great article, from DAN NEPHIN, Associated Press Writer - (photo also from the Asoociated Press)

In the 1980s and 1990s, many departments started bike patrols, which were then a relatively new concept, said Wes Branham, a police officer with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department in North Carolina. But after the Sept. 11 attacks, he said, they went "totally out the door. Money went elsewhere."

Now bikes are coming off the rack.

Branham, who heads his department's bike unit, said it began with two officers in 1994 and has grown to 25 full-time officers and 150 part-time riders. The department has about 1,800 officers.

"Departments are just trying to find more economical ways to patrol," he said. "A lot of departments are starting to realize they're getting a lot of bang for their buck with a bike."

Even departments that implemented bike units for other reasons are noticing gas savings.

Talk soon,
Al