Quad bikes are excellent when it comes to going off road through some of the roughest terrain. The big advantage of these vehicles is that they can travel where larger on road cannot. With this in mind one of the latest additions to the police force in Midlothian are ATVs.
The area has been having problems with youngsters and anti-social behaviour for some time. Residents have accused the youths that hang out on forest trails in the area of causing a nuisance, and up to now there has been no way for police officers in cars to reach them to disperse them. That was however before the introduction of Honda quads. Some of the local officers have been given brand new quad bikes and kitted out with quad bike accessories allowing them to patrol areas.
The use of ATVs in other parts of the country to help control anti-social behaviour has also been noted and it seems to have made a huge difference. Residents have reported that the area has calmed down somewhat since officers began patrolling. The area is very popular with walkers and many visitors come to the forest each week, the quad bikes are a highly visible deterrent.
Before the introduction of ATVs youngsters were using trials bikes in the woods which not only disturbed residents but were also very dangerous. There had been many close calls in the past with bikers almost colliding with walkers and this has all but stopped since the introduction of the quads.