Wearing blue pants and tall black boots, MSU police Sgt. Alan Haller is ready to enter a new age in campus policing.

Beginning next week, the MSU Department of Police and Public Safety will patrol campus for the first time with a set of Harley-Davidson Road King motorcycles.

"I ran at this chance," Haller said, dressed in new cycling gear. More than 18 months after the department first considered the idea of motorcycle policing, Haller and officer Mike Cantrell began training April 18.

With four cream, silver and black Harleys, police say they'll be able to better patrol hard-to-maneuver areas during heavy traffic periods. They'll join a fleet of 12 patrol vehicles.

Last year, police administrators asked if officers were interested in a motorcycle unit. Haller, the unit's coordinator, was more than interested. He had limited experience riding cycles, but he said his love for them and the opportunity to do something different on the job intrigued him.

The cycles will be used during campus events, such as home football games. Motorcycle officers will be positioned in areas traditionally plagued by speeders.

Service Road, north campus, including East and West circles, and Farm and Shaw lanes will be among the roads to experience extra patrolling.

Before the department settled on the number of officers for the unit, competition was fierce, with Haller and Cantrell both vying for spots.

"The only person who was holding him back was me," Cantrell said, laughing. "It's a different aspect of policing I wanted to try."

In time, Haller and Cantrell won't be alone. Several other officers will be fully trained next month. It's expected about six officers will train during the summer. Both officers said the training was harder than expected. They said learning to balance the machines at slow speeds was one of the biggest challenges.

It costs a little less than $400 to train each of the officers who undergo the 80 hours of training. The cyclists are trained by Daniel Lee, a former police officer for the State College Police Department in Pennsylvania, and Doug Wolfe, a retired sergeant from the Royal Oak Police Department.

At the end of the training, officers are certified to patrol campus on the 2003 models, valued at about $20,000 each. But the department, through Harley-Davidson, will pay $40 a month to lease each of the machines.

If MSU police Chief Jim Dunlap decides to keep the program after a one-year lease, four new cycles will be purchased to replace this year's models.

Facing upcoming tight budget years and a shortfall in the number of police cars, Dunlap decided to invest resources in motorcycles. It costs about $735 a month to lease a patrol car, plus additional costs to prepare it with policing devices.

Campus will be spotted with the cycles, which can go at least 80 mph, for about nine months of the year, depending on road conditions.

East Lansing Police Department doesn't have motorcycles, but came close a year and a half ago. East Lansing police Capt. Juli Liebler said safety concerns were a top reason why the city decided against them.

"Motorcycles are little more dangerous than driving a patrol car," Liebler said. "It certainly would help with traffic or special events, but we could do the same thing with a patrol car.

"I could see that they need them more than us."

East Lansing has 66 officers and 14 patrol cars. MSU has 63 officers and 12 patrol cars. Dunlap said Meridian Township, which also has motorcycles, has only 43 officers, but more patrol cars. The Lansing Police Department also uses the machines.

Dunlap said the MSU department needed about six extra patrol cars to meet needs. He said because campus areas can be more narrow than city areas, the need for cycles is higher. Summer will be a great time to start the program because the department isn't as busy, he said.

"It's so expensive to buy another car; this is a fraction of the cost," he said. "For little investment, this will provide us with a chance to get a lot of additional use."

Dunlap said the cycles also will help to protect pedestrian safety by being visible in high traffic areas, which he hopes will cut down on speed and accidents.

There were a total of 903 speed violations last year. Dunlap said that number could increase at first and then hopefully fall after drivers get the message.

But don't expect to see Dunlap riding a machine any time soon.

"I rode a bike for a lot of years - I'm too old for that," he said.

Chad Previch can be reached at previchc@msu.edu.