VALDOSTA — As Valdosta State University paves the way toward a more pedestrian friendly campus, the university police have begun using Segway Transporters to keep the beat.

Nearly one month ago as VSU’s new pedestrian mall neared completion, Scott Doner, director of the Department of Public Safety, began to look toward ways to keep officers accessible to the main campus and quickly available to address student and faculty needs.

“With the new pedestrian walkway through the campus, our department had to become more pedestrian oriented as well. After riding a bicycle for eight hours, anyone can become tiresome, and walking isn’t fast enough to address some issues, so we looked into getting the Segway Human Transporters,” Doner said.

Following research and approval, the department purchased two Segway HT’s and the department’s 26 officers were trained to use the computer engineered, battery operated mobiles.

“The Segways are completely battery operated and can hold a charge up to 12 hours. They have a 15 mile per hour capability, but we travel at a rate much slower and conducive to the atmosphere and safety of the campus,” Doner said.

Many members of the department say that public response to the vehicles has been good.

“The Segways present a direct access for discourse among faculty and students here. When we are in the patrol cars, people are often hesitant to speak to us because of the association many people have of police cars and trouble. Now when we’re out, people seem to feel more comfortable. It’s opened up our department,” said Sgt. Mike Fontaine.

While the Transporters are not intended to replace police cars, Doner wants to get more Segways in the future as the university maintains its commitment to safety.

“The crime rate here is low, and I believe that is because of our proactive measures to crime prevention. In addition to educating students during orientation and throughout the year on crime prevention methods, we have call stations all throughout the campus. With our officers out on the Segways, we’re hoping to create even more visibility of safety through the campus, and continue to keep that rate low,” said Doner.