CHRIS BEAUFORD, Mesa PD, Passes Motor Officer Training with Flying Colors!
Last Updated: November 29th, 2020
Chris Beauford has the heart of a lion. Two days into providing Chris rider training, RiderCoaches Kevin Wood and Bill Seltzer had one impression: If motivation and desire could translate into dollars, Chris should be a millionaire. Three more days of training later, they realized they underestimated Chris. He should be a zillionaire.
Chris’ journey started earlier in the year after suffering an injury the first week of Mesa PD motor officer training. Not wanting to stunt his professional career with Mesa PD, and with a strong desire to overcome the challenge of passing motor officer training, Chris asked for a second opportunity. The forward-thinking powers that be at Mesa PD sought out TEAM Arizona to help Chris transition back from his injury onto two wheels.
So how do you take someone with little to no riding experience and get him to feel confident on a massive Kawasaki Concours Enforcer police bike? One wheel turn at a time.
We started by putting Chris on a standard 250cc training motorcycle. We made sure not to make any assumptions about Chris’ knowledge base. As Chris started to gain proficiency with the fundamentals of clutch, brake, and throttle control, we slowly introduced more challenges that improved his fine motor control skills. By day three, Chris was off the training motorcycle and onto the Enforcer. By day four, he was turning 20′ circles on a 1,000 pound motorcycle. By day five, he was treating range exercises like the Intersection and Funhouse with little regard.
On October 29, 2013, Chris graduated with flying colors from the Tempe Police Department Motor Officer School, which included both Tempe and Mesa police officers. We at TEAM Arizona were in attendance to support Chris and wish him well in his new endeavor. As you can tell by the smile on his face, he’s happy to be starting this new chapter in his life. We’re glad we were there to help him write the first page.
Chris is currently working through Mesa’s transition school for motor officers to learn the day-to-day activities of a motor. Our gut tells us he’ll make a fantastic motor officer.
We look forward to working with Mesa PD and other law enforcement agencies in the future. We are excited to offer our life-saving services to the men and women in blue.
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