Intimidated?
On August 21st the Kansan ran a story about the KUPD going "green" by buying three Segway scooters and an unspecified amount of E-85 patrol cars.
Where oh where do I begin?
First of all, as seen by the video above, riding a Segway is not exactly the most normal thing. Secondly, it is nowhere NEAR intimidating. Police are supposed to have a PRESENCE wherever they go, to deter thieves and all that jazz. They're SUPPOSED to be intimidating, to make you feel scared if you're up to no good, and safe and secure if you're just an average Joe (no debate jokes please).
Riding a Segway makes police officers a laughingstock on campus. I can't tell you how many times me or my friends have seen a Segway cop scoot past and we've had to restrain our laughter until he's whirred out of range.
Is this the image they're trying to get across? That they have $15,000 dollars to burn and have nothing better to spend on? What about normal bikes? What about just walking? What about finding something else to spend that outrageous amount of money on?
I want to know what the thought process behind this was. Rolling around campus at a maximum of 12.5 miles per hour is not exactly the thin blue line personified. Besides, all you have to do to get away from a Segway cop is...um...run. Up a hill.
Or find some stairs. Which, at KU is not exactly a hard thing to do.
On a much smaller campus, sans hills and stairs, I could see Segway cops being an option.
This, in my opinion, is indicative of a larger problem at KU.
KU has an unnatural obsession with "going green." Trays at Mrs. E's are gone, normal police cars and bikes (and legs; they don't run off fossil fuels) are gone, a random rain garden is being put in north of the Rec Center, and the list goes on.
By indulging this obsession, the KUPD has made fools of themselves, and has wasted money for the sake of looking greener than the next Big 12 school.
Knock it off, KU. You don't need to make uninformed rash decisions to try to make yourselves look better in the college rankings.
Once students actually get here, they won't care about diversity figures or how much money on gas the E-85 cars and Segways save. They will care about getting a quality education and being protected by a competent and well-trained police force.
I don't want Gob Bluth protecting my campus.
If you don't understand that, click here.
Discussion
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It does seem like a waste of money and an attempt to appear like a better place rather than actually becoming a better place. I want to know what the officers think about this. They can't be too excited about riding these things. These things look funny thus it'll make anyone on it look funny. I can't wait to see it.
I have to say that I think segways are hilarious, in that ridiculous, could never ride on one seriously kind of way. If i had a segway, I would want all my friends to have one so that we could play segway tag. Imagine it...segway tag. Genius. They look like they should be in the circus, not available to the general public. I'm sure segways are already dong their part in contributing to American's obesity problem.
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