Trainer beats Yanks at their own game

TSC Motorcycle Trainer, Sergeant Wayne Christie, has recently returned from a US law enforcement motorcycle course where he took out first place.

Wayne was also the oldest on the course, but beat 17 other police motorcycle officers from across the US and Alaska with a final grade of 96 percent. Only six others made the final 75 percent pass mark.

The course, held in Wayne County near Detroit, was run by the Northwestern University Centre for Public Safety and is known to be tough.

"It's a research-based and performance-orientated course meaning the riding exercises have been designed taking into account years of crash analysis. Everything we learnt directly related to common police motorcycle hazards," says Wayne.

Long days in high heat and humidity took its toll on many riders. "Everyone felt the gravitational pull of Mother Earth during the slow cornering exercises. One state trooper told me he lost count after picking up his bike 190 times and it was only the second day!"

The course demanded perfection in riding skills and in officers' attitudes and professionalism.

"Police motorcycling is a high risk activity and arriving home safely each day was continually emphasised.

"The knowledge I gained will enable me to benchmark what we do in our training and bring it up to the same standard as that being achieved at Northwestern University," says Wayne.

All training was undertaken on Harley-Davidsons, the motorcycle of choice for a number of US law enforcement agencies. Wayne had only ever been on a Harley for two hours before his arrival in the US.

"Harleys are very different from the BMWs we use in New Zealand Police. Your feet are way out in front which affects how you do gear changes, braking and cornering." Wayne explains his first placing despite this by saying: "I'm a methodical person – I just practised and practised taking each day at a time."

Wayne will be introducing a number of the exercises and techniques he learnt into NZ Police motorcycle training, including braking and escape exercises, hazard avoidance, speed and deceleration skills.

"These skills need to be continually practised because police motorcycles are often used in high density traffic and pedestrian situations, which demand expert balance, clutch control, braking and hazard detection."

Wayne also spent four days with the Californian Highway Patrol looking at their training.

Thirty police motorcycles are currently in use in NZ Police.