BOISE, Idaho — For the first time Eagle Police Department established a Special Enforcement Team and Park Officer unit. Officers will patrol nearby trails, parks and the greenbelt in the city of Eagle.
"I love the greenspace, I love the river,” said Paul Lim, Ada County Deputy Sherriff. "This is what I describe to people when I say how lovely it is in this state," he said.
During the summers in Idaho, many locals and visitors flock to places like the Greenbelt, but as Lim said, sometimes people forget the rules. Lim said the reason the unit was created was to address community concerns.
"It was mainly because of the call of the citizens, what they needed on the greenbelt,” Lim said. "Not that people need to be enforced on the greenbelt, but there's a lot of rules, one of the major ones is dogs off-leash."
Paul Lim and another officer use electric bicycles to patrol the outdoor areas to make sure citizens are following the rules.
“We are very well equipped we are all trained the same as other officers that are on the street,” Lim said. “We have been quite busy."
According to Lim, patrolling the sidewalks instead of the streets creates a lot of advantages for the department.
“There’s not a lot of access on the greenbelt for vehicles where I have this bicycle and it's electric-assist and I can get there quickly and assess what's going on,” Lim said. “Us being there it’s huge, I think we have cut the factor down by seconds other than hours."
While some days are less eventful than others, Lim hopes the community knows the police department is putting in an effort to keep Idahoans safe.
"We are out here, I'm lugging 35, 45 pounds of extra weight and it makes a difference out here that people actually see us doing something,” Lim said.
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