On a beautiful late summer afternoon last week, Patrolmen David Marler, left, and Michael Bronson, right, hop on their mountain bikes and take off from the South Kingstown Public Safety Complex, head down Curtis Corner Road to the William C. O’Neill (South County) Bike Path. Their shift has begun.

The evening will take them to the basketball courts in Peace Dale, the skate park at Old Mountain Field, across the busy Dale Carlia intersection in Wakefield and back to the bike path. They will head along another path to the YMCA fields.

When they bike through the Oaks neighborhood, a man stops them because he is concerned about an unlicensed driveway sealer salesman roaming the neighborhood. Marler and Bronson quickly find the man who is driving around looking for business. They tell him that though they know he is trying to make a living, he needs a license to go door-to-door in South Kingstown. The two patrolmen will also mediate a domestic argument between a brother and sister in the course of the evening.

They may ride between 20 to 30 miles a shift on a typical summer night in this town of 63 square miles, says Marler.

Both Marler and Bronson raced on mountain bikes before joining the police force. They like the flexibility the bikes give them and that patrolling on them keeps them in shape. When a call comes in from the station dispatcher, they can move quickly to the scene. The patrolmen say they know all the shortcuts and hiding places. It’s easier to surprise a group of teens drinking in the woods or at the beach or in the cemetery in Peace Dale while they’re on bikes. And they say that people now easily identify the “Crown Vics” as undercover police cars.

Marler and Bronson like the bike patrol because they get to mingle with the community. They think people find it easier to approach them than to make official reports at the station.

This summer the two patrolmen have spent Tuesday and Sunday evenings in Matunuck to handle the crowds when the bar scene heats up. The reaction from people who live there has been positive. Marler and Bronson believe they have been able to curb underage drinking because of their presence.

Capt. Jeffrey Allen, commander of the South Kingstown Police Department patrol division, says the bike patrol is “extremely productive.” Since July 1, Marler and Bronson have made 37 arrests and garnered a lot of positive feedback from the community. Allen hopes to have two more officers assigned to the bike patrol next summer. It would certainly save money on gas, he said.

Three hours into their shift last week, the bike patrol had logged 12 miles and the evening was still young. The pair has ridden 426 miles each since the beginning of July. They will be on their bikes through September, and if the weather is good on Halloween, they just might be out there pedaling through the neighborhoods.