“It” has come to Santa Monica. The Santa Monica Police Department is poised to become the state’s first law enforcement agency to use an odd two-wheeled vehicle to protect and serve.
Police are field testing Segways, a vehicle that stands upright and is battery powered, to use for traffic services and patrolling of beach lots and parking structures. The company that manufactures Segways has loaned the SMPD two of the vehicles.
“With the new transit mall complete, we’re trying new options down there to increase visibility, safety and find new ways of enforcement,” said Lt. Clinton Muir, the SMPD officer in charge of traffic enforcement.
“They can get to a troubled intersection and easily park off-site without blocking the intersection and further adding to the congestion,” he said.
Besides having zero emissions and requiring almost no maintenance, the machines also could save the city thousands on traffic enforcement cars. The Segway model the police department is considering costs about $9,000 while the traffic cars average $33,000 a piece.
“There is a substantial savings,” Muir said. The vehicle looks a little like a Roman chariot without the horse and is able to carry one 250-pound individual and 75 pounds of cargo at a time. Segways can reach top speeds of 17 mph and they can travel 10 to 15 miles on a fully-charged battery.
Four gyroscopes and several sensors allow the device to stand upright on its own. A rider leans forward or backward to move in those directions and the vehicle turns by twisting either end of the handle bar’s grips.
Batteries are interchangeable and can be recharged in four hours. Should one of the vehicle’s run out of juice in the field, it can be recharged by simply plugging it into any normal electrical socket.
Worse-case-scenario, if an outlet can’t be found, the 85-to 95-pound Segway can be rolled back to the station. The invention caused a stir in the media last year when word of “it” leaked out and top computer executives were reported as saying the device would change the world. Dean Kamen, the inventor of the device, officially released the Segway at the beginning of this year. He showcased the vehicle’s abilities on the Santa Monica boardwalk less than a month later.
Currently the vehicles are being field tested by police departments in Atlanta and Anaheim, the U.S. Postal Service, the National Parks Service and numerous private corporations.
Police officers and civilian traffic enforcement officers have been putting the vehicles through regular parking patrols, including zipping up and down the parking structures and patrolling the boardwalk. Officers also have used them to patrol the city’s alleys.
“It gives us a lot more flexibility,” said Orlando Imperial, a traffic patrolman. “I have to say I haven’t found a drawback yet.”
Traffic services manager Don Williams added, “There is really endless possibilities for these.”
Traffic officers are required to wear bike helmets and lime-green neon vests with SMPD lettering on the back.
“We are looking into all safety aspects in our field tests,” Muir said. “It’s important we make sure it’s safe for the riders and the public before using something like this for the first time.”
Besides a two-day safety course taught by Segway officials, the officers are not required to have any sort of special license to operate the device — a driver’s license is not even needed.
A bill before the California Legislature hopes to define the vehicle as a motor-powered scooter that would not mandate state licensing.
The SMPD has not decided if it will purchase any of the vehicles but because officers and operators are so impressed with them, it may be only a matter of time before officers are seen zipping through downtown on them daily.
“The chief is always looking at the cutting edge of technology,” said SMPD spokesman Lt. Frank Fabrega, “and looking at how it can be applied to the police department.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 27, 2002. Read the original PDF.