If you think you're good at braving the cold; chances are good that these guys are better.
If you think you're bad at braving the cold; chances are good that these guys might seem like superheroes.
There are four motor cops in Roanoke City. Even with these cold temperatures and blustery winds, the officers on motorcycles only stop when there's snow on the ground.
We caught up with Officers Gayle Combs and Ray Shanks today. Combs has been a motor cop for four years now and Shanks two and a half years.
To keep warm, Shanks wears a special suit that connects to his bikes battery. It takes him 15 minutes to put the suit on and he controls its temperature with a thermostat he keeps in his pocket. He says the suit takes just 15-20 seconds to warm up.
For Combs, the suit is not a necessity. Combs just layers up and doesn't rely on the heat gear. Despite temperatures in the teens with wind chills even lower, despite the wind that's in their face while they're riding, Combs says he just doesn't need the suit.
"He's crazy" said Shanks of Combs.
Both men say the men and women in patrol cars call them crazy for being on the bikes in these frigid temperatures, but they love it.
They also say people are "pretty understanding when they see motor officers" when they get pulled over.
Both men also say the time they're coldest is actually when they're writing tickets. Aside from his pens freezing, when Shanks cuts the engine off, his suit turns off too.
There are some positives motor officers do enjoy relative to patrol cars.
They have a little more mobility, it takes them only five or six seconds to go from holding their radar to pursuing someone they're pulling over. However, they do admit they are a little more vulnerable not being inside the metal frame of a car.
