Segways gain speed on VSU campus

Jessica Washington said she was fascinated when she first saw Segways at Virginia State University, where campus police in June 2007 started using the two-wheeled electric transporters in their patrols.

“I was like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe we’re getting more high tech,‘“ said Washington, a junior from King William County who is studying mass communications.

The first thing Nathaneal Pierre, a senior in business management, did when he saw officers on Segways was chase them down to ask them questions.

“I want to drive one,“ said Pierre of New York City’s Brooklyn borough.

And he’s not the only one. Visitors, students and faculty have asked to drive them, Lt. Troy Covington said.

“During orientation, it’s the No. 1 topic,“ Covington said of the Segways.

VSU paid slightly more than $21,000 for four Segways as part of a package offered to police departments, Covington said.

Covington said he first saw the Segways at the College and University Police and Investigators Conference in 2006 and persuaded the VSU police chief to buy them.

Campus police also have a walking patrol, four motorcycles, electric golf carts and cruisers, university Police Chief Michael Wallace said.

VSU has many outdoor activities, during which the Segways are ideal for officers to move about in crowds, Wallace said.

“We have definitely gotten our use out of them,“ he said. “We have no regrets.“

During the upcoming school year, Covington hopes to hold a safety session in which students will be able to try the Segways, he said.

You can get proficient on the Segway in about an hour, Covington said. “It takes some getting used to. You can’t just get on it and take off.“

Covington designed the training program for VSU’s Segways by getting advice from other universities with Segway patrols, including the University of Maryland and Duke University.

“I put them on an obstacle course,“ Covington said of police officers learning to use the Segways.

The officers are allowed to patrol with the Segways only after they learn how to open a door while riding one and go up and down an elevator on one.

“The downside is that they’re not conducive to bad weather,“ Wallace said, “but for fair weather, sunny weather, they’re ideal.“

The police package includes a special key that shuts down the Segway 30 seconds after it is not in use.

Richard Bland College in Petersburg, the only state-supported junior college in Virginia, is also is considering using Segways.

“That will help us to be more mobile across campus,“ Bland Police Chief Scott Davis said.

Davis said Segways are among the options his department is investigating as the college expands with two new residential halls this fall. The college has two police cars.

At the University of Richmond, the police department doesn’t use Segways, but the Media Resources Center at Boatwright Memorial Library uses them for students who make deliveries around campus.

“It’s a good way to get [people] the information they need in an efficient manner,“ said Holly Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for the university.
Contact Sarah Alfaham at (804) 649-6435 or .