Meet The Newest Members of the Rutgers Public Safety Team: Segway Personal Transporters

(NEWARK, Oct. 22, 2007) Segway Personal Transporters those two-wheeled, non-polluting, quiet electric scooters are the newest equipment in the Rutgers-Newark Public Safety departments community policing efforts. Two Segways are now being used to supplement the campuss foot, bicycle and car patrols, following a training program on Oct. 17. Rutgers-Newark is believed to be the only university police force in New Jersey using Segways, although some 380 police departments nationwide use them.

WHAT : Campus safety personnel will demonstrate using the Segways to patrol the campus. The media is invited to see the Segways in action on Oct. 26. Segways are quiet, dont pollute and use rechargeable batteries; they can travel at top speeds of 12.5 hour, and can traverse lawns and hills as well as sidewalks and parking lots. Segway PTs are considered excellent community policing tools because they allow police to patrol in areas where cars cannot, are faster than a foot officer and are highly visible, making them excellent deterrents.

WHEN : Friday, Oct. 26, 11 a.m. 1 p.m.

WHERE : The Norman Samuels Campus Plaza (entrance from the Paul Robeson Campus Center, 350 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., or through the Rutgers-Newark red archway on University Avenue (between 175 University Ave. and 195 University Ave. )

WHO : Rutgers public safety personnel who will be driving the Segways, and Michael Lattimore, chief/director of public safety, who will answer questions about using the Segways as part of community policing.