What could be more frightening to a criminal than seeing a police officer speeding in on a Segway Personal Transporter? Well, now we have an opportunity to find out. Late last fall, in its search for new, environmentally friendly forms of transportation, Campus Police decided a Segway is an efficient and imposing vehicle. Although it is nice to see officials embrace newer transportation technologies, we are forced to wonder: Are these vehicles really a cost-effective means for policing our campus?
A Segway, when fitted with lights and police gear, costs the University a little more than $6,000 — whereas a horse costs about $5,000 and a squad car is more than $20,000 according to Capt. Jon Barnwell. While from a cost perspective this is not completely unreasonable, with a Segway reaching a top speed of 10 to 12 miles per hour, it seems unlikely this machine will be useful for law enforcement.
Barnwell maintains that Segways are advantageous because in a crowded space, individuals are likely to move out of the way when they see a large vehicle moving towards them, and these machines can traverse rough off-road areas easily. Although it might be a versatile apparatus, it is hard to imagine a Segway being of much use on a rocky or steep off-road area, and even Barnwell admitted in such a situation the officer would have to dismount and pursue the criminal on foot.
For now, Campus Police only has two Segways and is waiting to evaluate the community’s response before it considers purchasing more. If this department is looking to waste more money on costly transportation methods, perhaps it should invest in personal rocket packs for each of its officers — although, admittedly, that would lead to higher fuel costs.
Perhaps as technology advances we will see faster and more efficient Segway models emerge that are powerful crime-stopping tools. For now, however, its advantages don’t seem to match up with its price, and Campus Police should look for alternative methods. In this regard, purchasing more bicycles would be a cheaper and more efficient option.
Maybe several decades from now criminals will learn to fear officers riding these silent, electrically-powered vehicles, but for now Segways will mostly be regarded as flashy machines.