EAGLE, Idaho — Eagle Police Deputy Jeff Hazer has spent the last five years patrolling the Eagle Greenbelt — and is approaching 30 years in law enforcement.
He chose Ada County over other agencies after moving from Los Angeles, where he spent 20 years with the LAPD, because of the atmosphere and personality of the department. He said the Greenbelt assignment has been a great way to wind down his career.
Hazer's role is flexible — no two days are the same. In addition to Greenbelt patrol by bike and golf cart, he is on the department's drone team and gets called in for drone support on search warrants and other operations, including counterterrorism training with the FBI.
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"That is the majority of what I do down here on the Greenbelt... safety issues, people with general problems, bee stings or lost kids," Hazer said.
Hazer said the positive interactions are one of the best parts of the job — a stark contrast to his years in Los Angeles.
"After working in LA for so long, being here, and I say people wave with all five fingers here, and it's so nice that I have positive interactions," Hazer said.
Kids recognize Hazer as "Deputy Jeff" at parks, schools and even during traffic stops. He hands out stickers regularly and said kids recognize him off duty as well. During traffic stops, he will often talk to the parent and then tell the kids to remind their parents to slow down, handing each child a sticker before moving on.
Along the trail, Hazer stopped to speak with a local forest school, answering questions and teaching kids about trail safety, including the importance of staying on the right side of the path.
Hazer also works closely with a volunteer patrol program — a group of mostly retired law enforcement officers who ride golf carts along the Greenbelt on weekends and during busy summer periods. He said the department's new golf cart was acquired in part for their use.
As Eagle has grown, so has activity on the Greenbelt.
"Most of our problems aren't necessarily criminal in nature right now; they're more safety-oriented, people riding, even bicycles, riding just too fast for, you know, on a busy weekend day when the weather's nice, there's a lot of pedestrians," Hazer said.
Hazer said conflicts between cyclists and pedestrians are a recurring issue, and that even legal e-bikes must be ridden safely around others.
"They're legal e-bikes. They're OK to be ridden, but they still have to be ridden safely with all the pedestrians," Hazer said.
The other most common complaint along the Greenbelt is dogs off leash. Hazer said he handles most of these situations through conversation and rarely needs to write tickets.
Earlier this year, parking along Eagle Road near the Greenbelt was changed to no parking. Hazer said the department spent several months issuing warnings before moving to citations.
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"We had to start giving out some citations recently. There's signs up everywhere. Hopefully people can start paying attention to that," Hazer said.
In the summer, bridge jumping is also a recurring issue near the pedestrian bridge on Eagle Road. Hazer said there is a city ordinance in Eagle prohibiting jumping off the bridge, though rules vary in other jurisdictions — including Boise, which has no such rule — causing confusion for some visitors.
"Most of the time I can go up and tell them no jumping off the bridge, and they say sorry and go on their way," Hazer said.
Hazer also noted that alcohol is not permitted on the Greenbelt or near the river shoreline, though it is allowed in Eagle's parks, just not in bathrooms or in an open container in the park itself. He said intoxication on the Greenbelt has not been a significant issue.
Hazer said his role differs from Boise's bike officers, who handle much higher volumes of criminal activity.
"Those guys do a lot more law enforcement than my job. It's a little more public safety and community engagement and stuff like that because I don't have that kind of volume yet of criminal," Hazer said.
Hazer said the incidents on the Boise Greenbelt in recent months did not change how he does his job, but he is more aware and communicates more with Boise bike officers as a result.
"We didn't change the way I do business down here, anything other than just being aware," Hazer said.
He also noted that Garden City serves as a natural buffer between Boise and Eagle's stretch of the Greenbelt, and that there has not been significant spillover of issues from Boise into Eagle.
E-bikes and electric motorbikes have been a recurring topic of concern along the Greenbelt. Hazer said his observation is that e-motorcycle activity has gone down significantly in recent months.
"For a while there, it was the e-motorcycles and stuff like that. My observation is that's gone down a lot. I think the word got out," Hazer said.
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Hazer said part of the confusion around electric motorbikes stems from how they were sold to families in the first place.
"I think people are mixing up the terms, and especially, like, I believe that the salesmen who were selling those things were telling the people that came in to buy them like, oh yeah, it's an e-bike, e-bike just like all other bikes, and so the parents do it. Customers, OK, well, they said it's legal, so I assume it's legal and off they go," Hazer said.
Hazer also noted that very small motorized vehicles fall under the category of "motorized toy" rather than e-bike or electric motorcycle, but they are still not permitted on streets or sidewalks.
When Hazer does encounter kids on illegal electric motorbikes, he said most stop when they see him, and he handles it through conversation, sometimes calling parents to come pick up their child.
"It really ... it's case by case, especially nowadays. The majority of them, if they see me coming around to stop them, most of the kids here in Eagle, most of the time stop and pull over, and I have a reasonable conversation with them," Hazer said.
"Depending on where they live, you know, I might call their parents and say, hey, can you come and get your kid? And they usually do, and we leave it at that. It's very, it's, it's the exception to the rule when we get in these pursuits and have a big situation," Hazer said.
Hazer said most, if not all, of his interactions on the Greenbelt can be resolved through conversation.
"Talking to somebody, you know, respectfully, and they're respectful to me, and we can just leave it at that," Hazer said.
Sergeant Justin Elliott said electric motorcycles are already prohibited on the Greenbelt and sidewalks under existing law — and that Eagle will enforce those rules.
"In Eagle we will enthusiastically enforce state statutes and part of that is, yeah, kids don't have motorcycle endorsements. Kids aren't insured on those things, so they're just ... they're not equipped for public roadways or sidewalks," Elliott said.
Eagle city leaders are now considering several new proposed ordinances. Elliott said the proposals include a catalytic converter ordinance, a modified exhaust ordinance and a littering ordinance related to activity near the Boise River. A failure to supervise ordinance is also being considered — one that could hold parents responsible if their child repeatedly gets into trouble.
"If you as a parent continually fail to supervise your kid and they continually get in trouble, then the parents could be charged," Elliott said.
Elliott said the failure to supervise ordinance ties directly into the e-bike enforcement issues the department has been dealing with. He noted all of the proposed ordinances are still in the proposal stage and have not yet been passed.
Mayor Brad Pike told Idaho News 6 in a statement: "We have an ordinance addressing e-bikes. It's in the process of legal review, but we are hopeful to have it before council by November."
One young rider Hazer encountered on the trail summed up the right attitude.
"I just want to be respectful and make sure my bike is legal," the rider said.
"That is perfect," Hazer said.
