Gardaí get leg up for beat on the street
Pedestrians stopped to stare on Grafton St in Dublin yesterday as two gardaí demonstrated the force’s latest crime fighting technology — Segways.
These are two-wheeled self-balancing battery-powered electric vehicles that travel at about four times the speed of the average pedestrian.
Tom Coffey, CEO of Dublin City Business Association, officially presented two Segways to Assistant Garda Commissioner John Twomey and members of the force outside Bewley’s coffee shop.
The vehicles are operated by a standing driver and are able to reach a top speed of about 19km/h. The average walking speed is 5km/h.
“It’s been used in 300 cities worldwide for policing, so it’s fairly proven technology at this stage,” said Mr Coffey.
“Dublin is one of the safest cities in the world... My hope is that the Segways will help to maximise the effectiveness, mobility, and visibility of members of An Garda Síochána on the city’s high street. Urban policing has to be innovative to keep up with trends in urban planning and development. Today’s presentation is a pilot scheme that could be rolled out in other urban areas in Ireland to maintain the safety of pedestrianised thoroughfares and trading areas within the parameters of available resources.”
Assistant Garda Commissioner John Twomey said: “Segways add another arm to our portfolio in terms of dynamic and effective urban policing by maximising the areas we can monitor that are not typically accessible for other vehicles. Dublin has an impeccable safety record by European standards and we can assure members of the public that these Segways will be used to uphold and maintain this benchmark.”
Segways were used extensively during the 2008 Beijing Olympics and have since been put into use by police forces in China, the US, and in a number of European cities.
