City cops eye bold new trail -- on a Segway
Hamilton police may be using this vehicle to patrol streets.
Paul Morse
SPECIAL TO The Hamilton Spectator
(Nov 21, 2007)
Hamilton police are getting a new patrol vehicle, one they're sure will cause jaws to drop throughout downtown.
The Hamilton Police Services Board has authorized a three-month pilot project to deploy a Segway to patrol primarily on James Street North. If all goes to plan -- and there are a few niggly details like a city bylaw that currently bans them -- then Hamilton police will be the first force in Ontario to use one.
What's a Segway? It's a two-wheeled "human transporter," the brainchild of American inventor Dean Kamen. Need more? Well, it's basically a high-tech electric scooter -- you stand on it, grab the handlebar and lean forward to make it go. Keep leaning forward, grit your teeth and you'll go 20 kilometres an hour. Want to go left? Lean left. The same to go right.
Police Chief Brian Mullan told the board the Segway will be used on James Street North to combat fear of crime in a neighbourhood rocked by the shooting death of Xavier Miles outside CD Martini Bar last month. It will also allow the force to deploy officers who may have problems walking long distances or riding a bicycle, Mullan told the board Monday.
Mayor Fred Eisenberger, who sits on the police board, has seen Segways used by Chicago police and supports the project.
Segway makes a Canadian police model, complete with beefed-up snow tires able to handle snowbanks and rugged terrain, sirens, lights and cargo carriers.
But Councillor Terry Whitehead told the board he would rather see officers on mountain bikes, which are cheaper and less costly to maintain.
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