Law Officers Train In The Snow Cops Learn Enforcement Skills On Snowmobiles

Snowmobiling is a growing sport with more than 10 million participants in the United States and Canada.

But it’s also a growing headache for law enforcement agencies struggling with problems ranging from lost and injured snowmobilers to drunk driving.

“It’s become a very important recreation sport to a lot of people,” said Garry Forman of the Snowmobile Safety Institute. “With that popularity, it’s also come with its problems.”

But few police officers are trained to deal with the hazards associated with backcountry recreation. Their academies do not teach cold weather survival or winter travel skills.

Forman, executive director of the Snowmobile Safety Institute based in Evart, Mich., and four other snowmobile instructors came to Dixie to bring local officers up to speed. Participants learn the basics of snowmobile operation, but also advanced skills such as high-altitude and deep-snow riding techniques.

They learn how to conduct effective snowmobile patrols and how to tackle tricky problems such as transporting people in custody. The latter may be necessary with a new law in Idaho that puts snowmobile operation under the motor vehicle code. That means snowmobile operators can be cited for driving while intoxicated.

Curtailing alcohol abuse on snowmobiles is one area local law enforcement agencies hope to influence.

“We’re concerned about the obviously intoxicated person who is jeopardizing the safety of other users and families out there,” said Steve Didier, a Nez Perce National Forest enforcement officer.

“You can’t have a guy out there intoxicated and running around at 70 to 100 miles per hours,” said Idaho County Undersheriff Jon Stroop. “If we don’t start making a presence we’ll start seeing more snowmachine accidents.”

A new breed of light and powerful snowmobiles is letting more people experience the outdoors in a winter environment.

“It’s opening up public land for something they’ve never been able to do before,” Didier said. But the new machines are also exposing more people to harsh wintertime backcountry conditions they may not be prepared for.

Before an afternoon of racing around snow courses marked by orange pylons, Forman lectures his students in the Dixie Community Center. He reminds them weight shifting is essential to controlling snowmobiles at high speeds. It’s what he calls the “half-cheek factor.”

“As long as you remember to get half the cheek of your butt off the seat in an emergency maneuver you are going to be better off.”

Keeping weight to the inside of the turn and forward helps the snowmobile’s skis stay in contact with the snow, he explains.

Didier said the sheer number of people snowmobiling means there is bound to be some crime with the sport.

It ranges from vandalism of government and private property to reckless riding. Didier stresses education and self-policing by riders, when in comes to the backcountry, but also an increased presence of officers on trails.

“We’re visible. People know we are out there, they are policing their own, they are taking good care of the sport and that is what we want to see.”