A petition calling on West Yorkshire Police to save the Leeds Off-Road Bike Team (ORBT) has passed 800 signatures and been widely shared on social media, but the force say no final decision on the specialist unit’s future has actually been made.
The petition, titled “Save the Leeds Off-Road Bike Team,” claims that the force’s Chief Officer Team decided this week to disband the ORBT and absorb its officers into generic neighbourhood policing teams.
“Dismantling a highly dedicated and effective team, who have made a measurable difference, just to satisfy a bureaucratic headcount, exposes a massive failure of management,” claims the petition, which was created anonymously by a user calling themselves Concerned Biker.
Responding directly to MCN, however, Assistant Chief Constable Damien Miller, West Yorkshire Police’s local policing lead said: “To continue to meet Government funding requirements and strengthen our neighbourhood policing, some operational changes may be required including moving standalone teams into neighbourhood policing.
“The work carried out by these standalone functions will still continue. We remain committed to targeting the issues highlighted by our local communities, keeping people safe and bringing offenders to justice.”
Whether or not the decision has been made, it’s clear that some changes are being considered due to funding criteria. It would be a shame if the ORBT was caught in the crossfire. MCN will bring you more as the story develops.
Ben Clarke began riding (legally) at 21-years-old when he passed his direct access one month before shipping his Yamaha XT660 R to Miami and embarking on a 13,500-mile tour of the USA and Central America. He's worked at MCN for the last six years, riding everything from super nakeds and superbikes to small-capacity electrics and scooters across several continents. In more recent years, he's worked closely with the bike kit team to bring you all the latest news and reviews about the bike-related products we all use every day.
Lover of V-twins and big singles, partial to a tour