‘A different way to interact with the public’: Lake Villa now using e-bikes for community policing

There will be a learning curve but Lake Villa police have two new Commandos ready for duty as part of a community policing program.

Those would be two fully-loaded Recon Power Bikes brand Commando 14AH 17 e-bikes delivered late last week and ready to roll for patrol.

Three of the four officers assigned to the bikes are trained and the fourth will have finished by the end of the week.

“They’ll be used in conjunction with their patrol car throughout the day,” said Chief Rochelle Tisinai. “Whether they use the hitch or ride from the police department, they can do either one.”

Lake Villa is one of 23 communities across Illinois receiving a total of $165,000 in grants for the 2025 Powering Safe Communities Program awarded by ComEd and administered by the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus.

The program, now in its 11th year, is intended to kick-start projects focused on public safety and clean energy.

Projects this year range from solar-powered radar signs and pathway lights, replacing aging gas-powered equipment with modern battery versions and stop arm cameras for school buses, for example.

Lake Villa and Brookfield police departments are buying two e-bikes each.

Lake Villa received $4,009 and the village’s proposed matching contribution is $4,834.

The e-bikes have assisted pedaling and can approach 30 mph, said Sgt. Erik Lindberg, who wrote the grant application and is one of the four officers who will use the e-bikes.

Each have beefy shocks and are outfitted with emergency lighting, a siren and a rack bag to carry equipment and have an eight-hour battery life. A hitch-mounted e-bike rack comes with a ramp to roll the bikes into place without officers having to lift them. Delivery, assembly and testing also was part of the package.

E-bikes will have dual roles of traditional patrol and community interaction.

They can navigate through wooded areas, parks, and alleys where traditional vehicles cannot travel and can manage other terrain including sand and between railroad tracks, if needed.

“They’re quite off road,” Lindberg said.

Events in the Sun Lake and Grant Woods forest preserves remain under the jurisdiction of Lake County forest preserve ranger police, who will be notified if a situation occurs, Tisinai noted.

E-bikes also will be visible in neighborhoods, at town events and other locations as part of the department’s community policing initiative.

“We’re trying to come up with different ways to interact with the public and our e-bike program will be part of that,” Tisinai said.