IN THE SADDLE (REAL STORIES OF MOTOR OFFICERS)

In The Saddle

(True Stories, Experiences, and Accounts of the Motor Officer)

Fairfax County, VA Police

1974 D. Stopper at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. (Provided by D. Stopper)

1970’s, Motor Officer,

If you look carefully, you’ll notice the rear wheel friction siren. It was activated by a heal pedal behind the left footboard that caused the siren shaft to rub on the rear wheel. A real rush when you put siren drag on the left side of the rear tire at about 80+ mph! Didn’t work worth the darn in the rain or if you got stopped at an intersection. We often ran on emergency calls with a whistle in our mouth in case you got stopped and needed to cross traffic.

Dave Stopper

Motor Officer (Retired)

Fairfax County, VA Police Department

"If the Boot Fits, If Not Stuff It"

In 1975 Motor Officer Jerry Blough transferred off the Motor Unit to the Detective Division of the City of Sunrise, FL Police Department. This created an opening in the Motor Unit. The department had two requirements. First, riding experience. Second, the officer must wear a size 9 1/2 Motor Boots. The Motor Boots were passed down from motor officer to motor officer.

A young 19 year old Officer by the name of Kurt Kotrady wanted the position. When interviewing for the Position he failed to advise them to date he’d only ridden a 100cc Honda Motorcycle and not a Harley Davidson as expected nor did he tell them his boot size was 9. A few days after the interview the Motor Supervisor told him to grab the spare kick start Harley, and to get familiar with the bike on his off-duty hours. Kurt was told “If you don’t wreck, in time you’ll get a newer motorcycle.”

While getting familiar with the controls the foot activated siren control brushed up against the median curb which caused it to stop and lean on its side. He was a little shaken but he continued his self-training after righting the bike. At that time there was not a formal Motor Officer training course. Years later a training course was created. The Course consisted of traveling around 2 cones in a figure pattern. After successful completion of traveling around the cones you were qualified.

Kurt realized shortly after starting on motors and after driving past several store fronts seeing his reflection, the motor unit was the place to be. He was single, the bike was a babe magnet, and the $5.00 differential pay on top of $101.00 week this was all incentive to continue his motor career, even if he had to stuff his boots with cotton.

A few years into the motorcycle division assignment an opportunity arose to detach from the city of Sunrise Police department and to work on loan with the Broward Sheriff’s office (B.S.O.). The assignment offered was to work in an undercover capacity as a narcotic officer. Kotrady accepted the challenge, soon after the detachment Kotrady was direct by Lt Gary Ewing (B.S.O.) to complete an employment application to the Broward county sheriff’s office.

Skip forward a few more years and Sheriff G Bresher of B.S.O. wanted to reinstate a motorcycle division. Sgt. Dennis Creamer and Lt. Gene Mize G. interviewed many applicants. During the interview process Kotrady was told that his reputation precedes him, to his reply "I can explain that" he then started to explain that he was only in his late teens when he started police work and that some of the incidents were due to not being seasoned ". The panel told Kotrady that they never heard anything negative about him; his reply was "well I can’t explain that” (laughing) he then proceeded to shake their hands and said “well I guess this interview is over!” Kotrady then exited the room. Dickenson, E Helman J Knight and Kotrady were selected; they were given the opportunity to be the first four Motor officers with the new reinstated Motor Unit under Sheriff Bresher. Kurt later became the first BSO Certified Motor Instructor, Certified under IPTM (Institute of Police Training and Management).

Kurt retired after 37 years of Law Enforcement, over 25 years of those years he was assigned to motors. In his Motorman career he has ridden many motors such as the 1960s Haley-Davidson’s Electra-Glide, Kawasaki KZ 1000 Police, Harley-Davidson FXRP, Harley-Davidson Dyna’s, and Harley-Davidson Police Road Kings.

Broward County, FL Sheriff's Office

(LtoR) BR Kotrady, Sgt. Creamer, Lt. Mines, Knight FR Helman, Sheriff Brasher, Dickenson 1980's

Stories and photos provided by the motorofficers.