CAMBRIDGE — Traffic officers in Cambridge recently started the county’s first police motorcycle unit to combat crime and improve safety on the city’s roads, according to a police press release.

Cambridge is about 20 miles southeast of RAF Alconbury and about 20 miles southwest of RAFs Lakenheath and Mildenhall.

The fleet of three motorcycles — two BMWs and one Honda Pan European — will be based in the Southern Division Traffic Department at Sawston Police Station.

“The motorcycles will be able to get through traffic more easily than police cars, which can be hampered by congested roads, getting officers to incidents faster,” Cambridge Traffic Sgt. Tim Elliot said in the release.

Police asks residents to keep eye out for stolen toolsSAWTRY — Huntingdon police are looking for information on the theft of hundreds of pounds worth of power tools from a garage in Sawtry, about five miles north of RAF Alconbury.

Police constable Jon Powell said there is a possibility the thief or thieves may be trying to sell the tools.

“Have you been offered power tools to buy at a cheap price, or seen any second-hand tools for sale?” he said in a police press release. “Any information you have, no matter how trivial or insignificant you feel it is, could be helpful to this investigation.”

Powell can be reached at the Huntingdon Police Station at 0845 456 4564, quoting crime reference number CF0529770905. Anonymous calls to Crimestoppers can be made to 0800 555 111.

Fatalities spark monthlong road safety campaignCAMBRIDGE — Cambridgeshire police have launched a monthlong road safety publicity campaign after a large number of fatal collisions in the past few weeks, according to a police press release.

The “Be Safe, Not Sorry” campaign is meant to reduce the number of road deaths.

As of Oct. 18, seven people had died in the county, which includes RAFs Alconbury, Upwood and Molesworth.

Police say that the total number of traffic deaths in the county so far this year is the same as it was for the same period last year. Last year there were 579 serious-injury collisions in Cambridgeshire, with 71 fatalities. Most of the casualties, 71 percent, were men, according to the press release.