HACKNEY COPS are being given fixies to make them hipper and fitter.
It’s part of the Labour borough’s rebranding (see We can be an ironic republic, says hip Hackney).
Mayor Jules Pipe is determined his council will capitalise on the worldwide media recognition that has described districts such as Shoreditch, Hoxton and Dalston as super cool if not the world’s coolest.
Replacing the easy-ride mountain bikes used by local police officers with still (just) fashionable one-gear bikes is the inspiration of cycling councillor-campaigners Feryal Demirci and Vincent Stops.
The non-gender-specificity of the fixie is not its sole appeal for Hackney. A council press statement issued today: “Not only will the official use of fixie bicycles add to Hackney’s on-trend image, it will improve the fitness of its police officers.”
Complaints about out-of-breath constables have been made by Metropolitan Police chief Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe and others.
The council is to ask the force to help to pay for the new bikes with proceeds from its regular sales of stolen bikes. Pipe wants the scheme to be self-funding, which is why it will not be introduced until the start of the next tax year, on 1 April 2017.
Demirci said: “In the face of Conservative government cuts to local-government funding, Mayor Pipe deserves praise for leading an administration that has used sound financial measures to maintain high standards of service to the community.”
Oona Aprile 010416
* See also: We can be an ironic republic, says hip Hackney; April 1 shock for local newspaper
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