“We’re not deaf, you know,” Const. Paul McCormick says, smiling.

Few passersby pass by without a smart remark about the three shorts-wearing, baseball capped police officers standing at the corner of Sparks and O’Connor streets.

Most think they’re out to bust jaywalkers.

Some simply voice wildly over-imagined versions of what should be the obvious — “I think that guy’s getting a ticket for biking.”

What cops call “officer discretion” usually involves the decision they make whether to give you a ticket or a warning, but Friday morning, it was more like a test of character.

Like the long-haired shambles of a man with a cane and a bloody leg bandage who was talking on a cellphone, crossing on a red light and shouting at the trio of officers for telling him to stop.

Or, the crummy-bike man who refused to give his name in exchange for a warning because he didn’t want to be “in the system” and the helmetless wonder riding his bike with a hot coffee in hand.

Maybe even the European tourist who asked two of them to pose for a photograph,

They did. They even smiled.

This is what Neighbourhood Office (NHO) and Traffic Unit officers encounter when they shed the cruisers for mountain bikes and head downtown for a four-day bike blitz — like the one which wrapped up Friday.

By mid-afternoon the pile of tickets handed out was approaching 250, plus hundreds more warnings.

“There’s never a dull moment,” said Acting Staff Sgt. Chris Rheaume, from his cell phone.

“I’m on Hunt Club right now, watching a space cadet ride her bike on the sidewalk.”

He says the blitz was timed for the beginning of summer, primarily as an educational campaign and to get cyclists used to the idea of being asked to “pull over.”

With the continued loftiness of gas prices, Rheaume figures this summer could be a busy one for two-wheeled commuters.

“It’s needed,” he said. “I could do this every week.”

Friday’s trio, led by Sgt. Jeff Leblanc, stopped every cyclist they saw who was actually riding — especially if they were riding somewhere they shouldn’t be, like the Sparks Street Mall for example.

Each time, officers make checks to see if the bike has a bell or a horn, the brakes are in working order and has a working light if dusk is approaching.

Final numbers for the blitz will be tallied over the weekend.

doug.hempstead@sunmedia.ca

Twitter: @DougHempstead