The North Rhine-Westphalian police force received 120 new BMW motorcycles at the end of the year. Jürgen Mathies, then Director of the State Office for Central Police Services (LZPD NRW), handed over the first new bikes to twelve motorcycle police officers from Düsseldorf on October 20, 2015. The LZPD had procured the R 1200 RT series motorcycles as part of a Europe-wide tender. "The new motorcycles meet the high technical and tactical requirements for daily service," explained Mathies at the presentation. With a new signal transmitter on the front fairing of the motorcycle, vehicles in front can now also be stopped. The "STOP POLICE" signal is visible to the driver in the rear-view mirror. It is no longer necessary to overtake the vehicle to be checked. "This is a real safety bonus for the motorcycle police officers," emphasized Mathies. "They can see how the driver of the vehicle to be checked is behaving at all times."
With the silver reflective foils on the motorcycle in combination with the neon yellow helmets, the motorcyclists are visible from afar. This increases the protection and safety of police officers on the road. The bikes are powered by a new air/water-cooled boxer engine. The different riding modes "Rain" or "Road" are activated at the touch of a button. "This allows the riding characteristics of the motorcycle to be adapted to the weather and road conditions."
The entire motorcycle fleet of the NRW police consists of around 370 motorcycles, which are procured centrally via the LZPD NRW. The approximately 700 motorcyclists in the NRW police force are fast and flexible. The flexibility of the police motorcycles compared to radio patrol cars offers a great advantage, especially during searches and missing persons investigations. The maneuverable bikes are also particularly important for operations involving traffic accidents, securing dangerous areas and for pilotage and escort duties.