WMW gets firsthand look at motorcycle training; 'most difficult' law enforcement program

RENTON -- The training to become a motorcycle officer is said to be one of the most challenging in law enforcement.

I recently went to the academy to see what it takes to become an officer on two wheels -- and ended up getting a ride to remember.

“The average motorcycle rider just doesn’t know what they don’t know,” explains Master Instructor for Renton Police Department’s Motorcycle School, Ofc. Marty Leverton.

And that’s why officers come from all over the state put in about 100 hours in this training school before earning their right to ride. “In law enforcement this is by far the most difficult training you’ll ever go through,” Leverton continues.

He has been the Master Instructor for over a decade and spends hours covering advanced maneuvers like shooting techniques from bikes to braking. “The back of the motorcycle tries to catch back up, it gains traction and with forces that are far stronger than a human being, the motorcycle will realign itself.”



Most of the training consists of hours and hours of repetition and that includes training for the worst case scenario. “We train for high speed maneuvering and train for high speed braking and we train for high speed pursuits, but the reality is that high speed pursuits aren’t something we look forward to doing. They’re dangerous,” Leverton says. “Every student that comes here regardless of their status or rank will come here and express that this is by far the most difficult law enforcement program they’ve ever engaged in.”

The bottom line is that the people who pass this course have earned every mile they will ever ride.

So if you see a motorcycle officer on the street, know it’s a big commitment they make as part of a larger desire to keep us all safe, both off and on the streets. And it doesn’t come easily. Leverton continues, “We have had road racers and dirt bike riders and other phenomenal riders, even some stunt riders locally that people may be familiar at parades and stuff that do crazy things on motorcycles, they have come through just a portion of this program and said ‘I’m nowhere near where I thought I was and now I’ve got a taste of this and I just don’t know what I don’t know.”