There’ll be plenty of bicyclists cruising through Briarcliff Manor’s downtown this spring and summer. Among them will be police officers detailed to the village’s bicycle patrol.
Cops on silver mountain bikes are part of an effort to expand the department’s reach and engagement with the community on busy streets and at parades and outdoor events. The bikes, made by Specialized, cost about $2,000 each after being outfitted with lights and sirens.
As anyone who’s pedaled around the village knows, Briarcliff is not flat. The cop unit’s bikes come with 12-speed shifting and a wide gear range but are not e-bikes —there’s no pedal-assist. The knobby tires are suitable for off-road use.
The five bike patrol members — Sgts. Jason Hadjstylianos and John Raffaele and Officers Antonio DaCruz, Jeffrey Eagan and Michael Juliano — joined the force in 2024 after a weeklong training course offered by Westchester County police.
Briarcliff’s unit joins other River Town police departments that have put cops on bikes, including Ossining, Peekskill and Sleepy Hollow.
During a pilot program two years ago, Briarcliff borrowed bikes from Sleepy Hollow’s PD to patrol crowds of trick-or-treaters roaming the village’s Tree Streets neighborhood.
“It worked out perfectly, so we decided to buy bikes for our department and start our own unit,” said Briarcliff Police Chief Dominic Bueti. “We have the officers already trained and we’re doing events like the Briarcliff bashes, Picks and Pickleball and the Little Leagues parade.”
On Saturdays during the late spring and summer months, Bueti said an officer will be patrolling the village pool area, Law Park and handling parking and traffic enforcement in the Pleasantville Road downtown area.
The unit’s members are also available to speak with community groups; Juliano recently gave a bicycle safety talk for Girl Scout Troop 12-27 at Todd Elementary School.
When the patrol’s officers aren’t on their bikes, they’re back in their cruisers, Bueti noted. Briarcliff’s Police Department has 20 sworn officers, according to the village budget.
DaCruz said he seized the chance to join the bike unit.
“It’s a great way to interact with the community,” he said. “We can ride through the parks, talk to people who are sitting on park benches that we wouldn’t normally be able to talk to just riding around in a police car.”
Feedback from the community has been strong, said DaCruz, 40. “Everybody loves to see us, there’s always positive reactions whenever we’re riding around.”
So far, the unit had not made any arrests although it had handed out traffic violations, he said. Briarcliff does not patrol the North County Trailway, which is under county jurisdiction, but the unit responded to an incident involving a fallen cyclist on the path.
Juliano, 41, said the bike detail was well-suited to patrolling special events and providing a presence in the downtown. And he’s more than happy to ditch the squad car and get some fresh air.
“I think it’s a cool thing,” he said. “It’s a little exercise on a job where sometimes we’re quite stationary.”
