Joel Zwicky is one of those rare creative
souls who manage to bring a touch of
originality into everything they do. A
former photographer and musician, Joel
has worked as a patrol officer at the
Green Bay Police Department, in
Wisconsin, for the past decade. Unlike
regular officers, however, Joel prefers
patrolling the streets on his super-cool
skateboard.
“I kind of had the idea, like, two years
ago, just because I like to skate and I
was trying to figure out how I can do it
more at work so that I can – you know,
if you do what you love, you don’t work a
day in your life,” Joel said in an
interview with ABC News. The 40-year-
old floated the idea to his department,
but no one would take him seriously.
But earlier this year, when the
department’s chief was looking for new
initiatives to engage more with the
community, Joel suggested the idea
again. “And I said, ‘You know chief, I
had this crazy idea in the back of my
head what would you do if I brought my
board to work and started skating it?’
And he said, ‘Can’t hurt. Just don’t get
hurt please.’ So that’s kind of how it
started,” Joel explained.
His ‘skating patrols’ began in March – he
takes the board with him in his patrol
car every day and drives around the
city, answering calls. When the time is
right, he breaks out the board, zipping
through parks, school zones and local
bike paths. By using the board, Joel
actually helps his department access
places that might otherwise have gone
neglected. And if he’s needed in
another part of the city, he can just
stash the board in the front seat of his
car again and be off.
The skateboard that Joel uses is
modified to suit his requirements – it is
mounted with red and blue LED lights
and has larger wheels for a smoother,
easier ride. So far, he’s made only one
traffic stop on his board – he came
across a motorcyclist who was riding on a
cycling trail. “We were both pretty
shocked to see each other that day,” he
said. “There’s no motorized vehicles
allowed on the path so we just both
agreed to have a laugh about it and he
would get back on the road where he
belonged.”
Joel says that using the skateboard
helps people warm up to him much
faster. “Being in a squad car all day,
it’s kind of like a barrier to the public
and it can be intimidating to come up
and talk to us. But when I go skating
past them, even if it’s, ‘What the heck is
that?’ or ‘What are you doing?’, then all
of a sudden we’re both smiling and we
can talk and they can tell me their
concerns. When I am out on the trails
patrolling people, I get a lot of selfies
with people and things like that.”
“It’s really great at opening up doors as
far as communication with people and
beyond that it really, kind of, fits a
niche that hasn’t been addressed in
police work,” he added. Joel now wants
to use his passion for skating to break
stereotypes about law enforcement
professionals and skateboarders as well.
“They’re so persistent,” he pointed out.
“In their sport there isn’t a coach and
there isn’t a time to show up for
practice, but they put hours and hours
in on this every day, falling down,
getting hurt, getting back up, and the
character that that sport builds has just
been overshadowed by this stereotype of
these kids being bad kids. You know,
they’re absolutely to be admired.”
Joel now runs a blog called
Skateboardcop, where he documents his
experiences every day. “My mission is to
try to get Skateboarders and
Longboarders recognized as deserving
equal rights to bicyclists and inline
skaters on Wisconsin Roadways,” he
wrote. “I think skateboarding needs a
new narrative. The whole us-against-
them thing is, you know, outdated too.”
“I certainly see that there’s challenges
in breaking down some old ways of
thinking,” Joel admitted. “I just hope
that if I can conduct myself in a
positive fashion, it’ll bring about some
positive change.” He also encourages
officers from other states and cities to
consider adding more skateboard cops to
their force. For now, though, Joel is
pretty sure that he’s the “only one in
the world who actually patrols with a
skateboard.”
Photos: Skateboardcop/Facebook
souls who manage to bring a touch of
originality into everything they do. A
former photographer and musician, Joel
has worked as a patrol officer at the
Green Bay Police Department, in
Wisconsin, for the past decade. Unlike
regular officers, however, Joel prefers
patrolling the streets on his super-cool
skateboard.
“I kind of had the idea, like, two years
ago, just because I like to skate and I
was trying to figure out how I can do it
more at work so that I can – you know,
if you do what you love, you don’t work a
day in your life,” Joel said in an
interview with ABC News. The 40-year-
old floated the idea to his department,
but no one would take him seriously.
But earlier this year, when the
department’s chief was looking for new
initiatives to engage more with the
community, Joel suggested the idea
again. “And I said, ‘You know chief, I
had this crazy idea in the back of my
head what would you do if I brought my
board to work and started skating it?’
And he said, ‘Can’t hurt. Just don’t get
hurt please.’ So that’s kind of how it
started,” Joel explained.
His ‘skating patrols’ began in March – he
takes the board with him in his patrol
car every day and drives around the
city, answering calls. When the time is
right, he breaks out the board, zipping
through parks, school zones and local
bike paths. By using the board, Joel
actually helps his department access
places that might otherwise have gone
neglected. And if he’s needed in
another part of the city, he can just
stash the board in the front seat of his
car again and be off.
The skateboard that Joel uses is
modified to suit his requirements – it is
mounted with red and blue LED lights
and has larger wheels for a smoother,
easier ride. So far, he’s made only one
traffic stop on his board – he came
across a motorcyclist who was riding on a
cycling trail. “We were both pretty
shocked to see each other that day,” he
said. “There’s no motorized vehicles
allowed on the path so we just both
agreed to have a laugh about it and he
would get back on the road where he
belonged.”
Joel says that using the skateboard
helps people warm up to him much
faster. “Being in a squad car all day,
it’s kind of like a barrier to the public
and it can be intimidating to come up
and talk to us. But when I go skating
past them, even if it’s, ‘What the heck is
that?’ or ‘What are you doing?’, then all
of a sudden we’re both smiling and we
can talk and they can tell me their
concerns. When I am out on the trails
patrolling people, I get a lot of selfies
with people and things like that.”
“It’s really great at opening up doors as
far as communication with people and
beyond that it really, kind of, fits a
niche that hasn’t been addressed in
police work,” he added. Joel now wants
to use his passion for skating to break
stereotypes about law enforcement
professionals and skateboarders as well.
“They’re so persistent,” he pointed out.
“In their sport there isn’t a coach and
there isn’t a time to show up for
practice, but they put hours and hours
in on this every day, falling down,
getting hurt, getting back up, and the
character that that sport builds has just
been overshadowed by this stereotype of
these kids being bad kids. You know,
they’re absolutely to be admired.”
Joel now runs a blog called
Skateboardcop, where he documents his
experiences every day. “My mission is to
try to get Skateboarders and
Longboarders recognized as deserving
equal rights to bicyclists and inline
skaters on Wisconsin Roadways,” he
wrote. “I think skateboarding needs a
new narrative. The whole us-against-
them thing is, you know, outdated too.”
“I certainly see that there’s challenges
in breaking down some old ways of
thinking,” Joel admitted. “I just hope
that if I can conduct myself in a
positive fashion, it’ll bring about some
positive change.” He also encourages
officers from other states and cities to
consider adding more skateboard cops to
their force. For now, though, Joel is
pretty sure that he’s the “only one in
the world who actually patrols with a
skateboard.”
Photos: Skateboardcop/Facebook
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