City officers to try patrolling on Segway scooters

Patrol officers around the city will be taller and moving a bit swifter for the next week or so as they try out Segways, those funny-looking personal scooters increasingly used by law enforcement agencies across the country.

Four Segways arrived at Police Headquarters in Center City yesterday, and training is to begin this morning for officers who will patrol South Street, Main Street in Manayunk, Southwest Philadelphia, and various other spots for a 10-day trial.

"I want people to see them," Deputy Chief Patricia Giorgio-Fox said. "We're going to use them as a foot beat."

Though Segways come with high recommendations from other departments, Giorgio-Fox said, she wants to make sure the units are practical here. "Show me that they're not all fluff, that they can be useful for what we need," she said.

The scooter test comes at the urging of Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey as part of his strategy to strengthen community policing and reduce violent crime. The units cost between $5,000 and $6,000, and Ramsey emphasized that the trial is free: "No cost, no commitment."

Ramsey, however, is no stranger to Segways. They are used in Washington, where he had been chief before coming to the city in January, and in Chicago, where he spent most of his law enforcement career.

Sgt. Michael Wear of Washington's Metropolitan Police Department said Ramsey introduced Segways there, initially purchasing 10 units. That department now has 35 units, are upgrading models, and hope to have 50 in all.

"We don't have enough of them," said Wear, adding that Segways are used in all types of neighborhoods and allow patrols to go through alleys or other tight spaces where cars or bikes can't can't reach.

"People will make fun of you a little bit, but you can use that to start a conversation," Wear said. "Even in the roughest of areas, people will come up to you and ask what you're riding."

Such interaction, he said, turns into a relationship that permits police to build more trust with the community.

Said Chicago Officer Elliot Littleton, who has patrolled that city's downtown on a Segway for several years: "People see you and they're fascinated." And, he said, "I can get places much faster."

The scooters can move about 12.5 m.p.h. and travel over any terrain except steep inclines or stairs, said Chip MacDonald, spokesman for Segway Inc., of New Hampshire. That speed is equal to about a five-minute mile.

Officers stand about eight inches taller, and the company's police model is equipped with lights, a siren and saddlebags.

Chief Inspector Anthony DiLacqua of Philadelphia's Patrol Bureau was impressed during a demonstration last month.

"You can get a pretty good gait on these bad boys," DiLacqua said.

In the United States, 370 police departments, including New York City's, use the units, MacDonald said. Worldwide, about 650 police and security agencies have added Segways since their introduction in 2001.

Segways are already in use for patrols at Philadelphia International Airport, 30th Street Station, and local campuses.

Drexel University's Domenic Ceccanecchio, senior vice president for public safety, said the university had five units. He said they had helped enhance campus security.

"I look at the Segway as another tool in the toolbox," Ceccanecchio said.