--- title: Skateboard Cop? Skateboard Cop. description: The world's first. canonical: https://time.com/2979654/skateboard-cop/ author: Bijan Stephen article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-07-13T19:25:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:11:38.617Z og:title: Skateboard Cop? Skateboard Cop. og:description: The world's first. og:url: https://time.com/2979654/skateboard-cop/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt67f652131ee97c6b/69869b8d1eebf7ca6b371d84/screen-shot-2014-07-13-at-3-45.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1484 og:image:height: 835 og:image:alt: Screen-Shot-2014-07-13-at-3.45 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Skateboard Cop? Skateboard Cop. twitter:description: The world's first. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt67f652131ee97c6b/69869b8d1eebf7ca6b371d84/screen-shot-2014-07-13-at-3-45.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Skateboarding Cop Gives Out the Gnarliest Tickets > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME The Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition The Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors. The Brief brings TIME's perspective to the day's most important stories, helping readers understand not just what is happening, but why it matters. It combines original reporting and analysis with the best of TIME, spanning politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. by [Bijan Stephen](https://time.com/author/bijan-stephen/) ## Bijan Stephen Jul 13, 2014 7:25 PM UTC  by [Bijan Stephen](https://time.com/author/bijan-stephen/) ## Bijan Stephen Jul 13, 2014 7:25 PM UTC There’s a new sheriff in town. And it turns out he’s got a mean ollie. Meet Joel Zwicky, the world’s first [skateboarding cop](http://www.odditycentral.com/news/meet-the-worlds-first-skateboarding-cop.html). He’s based in Green Bay, Wisc. and started his skating patrols in March—already, they’ve been a huge success. In an interview with [ABC News](http://abcnews.go.com/US/skateboard-cop-break-barriers-green-bay/story?id=24327249), he told reporters that he floated the idea in response to his department chief’s call for new ways to engage with the community. “I kind of had the idea, like, two years ago, just because I like to skate and I was trying to figure out how I can do it more at work so that I can – you know, if you do what you love, you don’t work a day in your life,” Zwicky told ABC. His skate patrols have had two main benefits: First, he engages in more open conversation with the community (due to the unorthodox/slightly absurd sight of a policeman on a longboard); and second, the board allows him access to places he’d otherwise be unable to patrol. According to ABC News, he hopes other departments across the country implement skateboards into their stable of vehicles—if, of course, their officers are rad enough. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2979654/skateboard-cop/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2979654/skateboard-cop/"},"headline":"Skateboarding Cop Gives Out the Gnarliest Tickets","datePublished":"2014-07-13T19:25:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:11:38.617Z","description":"Joel Zwicky aims to pull off some sick arrests, bro","url":"https://time.com/2979654/skateboard-cop/","keywords":["Newsfeed","police"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt67f652131ee97c6b/69869b8d1eebf7ca6b371d84/screen-shot-2014-07-13-at-3-45.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Bijan Stephen","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/bijan-stephen/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt67f652131ee97c6b/69869b8d1eebf7ca6b371d84/screen-shot-2014-07-13-at-3-45.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Screen-Shot-2014-07-13-at-3.45","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2979654/skateboard-cop/","name":"Skateboarding Cop Gives Out the Gnarliest Tickets"}}]}] ```