March 23--TAMPA -- Steve Toll, a former Tampa police officer turned bike seat manufacturer, is donating 200 seats to police in time for the Republican National Convention.
The seats, which retail for $169.95 apiece, will be used for the 200 new bikes that law enforcement plans to buy for the convention.
"Why not do it?" Toll said of his donation. "Good thing to do. It's the right thing to do."
With Tampa City Council approval next month, the city plans to buy $1,600 Kona bikes with nearly $320,000 in federal grant money earmarked for RNC security. During the Aug. 27-30 convention, the bikes will help officers patrol the congested downtown and make officers more approachable, the police department says.
Toll's donation helps cut down on costs, police said.
Toll, who resigned from the police department in the 1980s, said his seats are designed to help with rider comfort and health.
"It's much more comfortable long-term," Tampa police Cpl. Tom Downes said of the seats.
In early 1997, Toll finished a painful bike ride on the Pinellas Trail and diagnosed that his discomfort came from his bike saddle. He came up with a remedy -- a bike saddle in the shape of a horseshoe-shaped toilet seat.
Several years ago Toll gave a much smaller bike seat donation to the force.
This time around, after learning from friend and Tampa police Chief Jane Castor that officers were getting bikes for the convention, he decided to donate 200 of his Lutz-based company's Adamo Peak seats.
"I had great experiences in Tampa," Toll said. "This was a great place to be. It was a great place to work. I worked with fantastic people."
Investigators from 15 agencies throughout Florida will work together on RNC bike patrol. Some already have completed training, while others will be trained in coming weeks.
After the convention the agencies will keep the bicycles and use them to bolster their patrols. Tampa police and Hillsborough deputies will keep the greatest percentage of the bikes.
Money for the bicycles comes from $50 million set aside by Congress for convention security.
Copyright 2012 - Tampa Tribune, Fla.
