Europe's coolest cops are on a roll.
Amsterdam police, arguably the trendiest on the continent for their earrings, Bermuda shorts and mountain bikes, are chasing bad guys with the latest in crime-fighting technology: in-line skates.They've drawn ridicule for traveling to Disneyland Paris for a course in dealing with the public, and some say the Dutch capital's cops are losing their dignity - fast.
"Imagine being arrested and clapped into irons by a cop on roller skates," wrote Rob Hoogland, columnist for the national newspaper De Telegraaf. "How embarrassing. If it happened to me, I'd ask for the death penalty."
A pilot in-line skate patrol of three men and two women hit the streets this week, hoping their skates will help them pursue fleet-footed pickpockets and petty criminals who target tourists and downtown shoppers.
Amsterdam's tangled streets and alleys can be too narrow for patrol cars to maneuver. Capital police have been patrolling parks on mountain bikes for years, but couldn't resist the extra mobility - and, no doubt, the chic factor - of in-line skates.
"We're a skate country in Holland. It's a little bit of Dutch tradition," said Alain Lacher, a member of the skate patrol.
The idea came from young officers "always looking for ways to chase criminals faster," said police spokesman Klaas Wilting. They were inspired by police skate patrols in Miami and Venice Beach, Calif.
But lately, people in this city of the hip have begun to wonder whether their easygoing police have gone too far. Pundits skewered the department for last month's trip to Disneyland Paris, calling it a Mickey Mouse junket.
Even "Tonight Show" host Jay Leno took a shot at the rollercop idea recently. Works fine, he quipped, until a purse-snatcher dashes uphill, leaving the cops on wheels scrambling at the bottom.
Fortunately for the skate squad, Amsterdam is almost as flat as its favorite snack food, the pancake.
But as the crooks will quickly learn, the better escape route would be down the jagged cobblestone streets along the city's many medieval canals. Skating officers must avoid those or risk ending up in the drink.