By CHRISTIAN BOTTORFF, Staff Writer
The Tennessean
 Officer David Sisk rides a scooter in downtown Nashville on Thursday. He and other bicycle officers have been issued scooters for patrols. (DIPTI VAIDYA / THE TENNESSEAN) |
First, a few people point.
Then there are stares.
Sometimes, people will outright inquire about the pint-sized, motorized scooters that Metro police Sgt. Bill York and his officers are using to patrol downtown.
“It takes a minute for them to figure out what it is,” York said. “Most people make a comment about their smallness. They want to know if we did something with the big motorcycles. Are we downsizing?”
Well, the answer is: neither.
Instead, Metro police have distributed five scooters among officers who normally ride bicycles downtown. The idea, police said, is to cover more ground while still navigating around traffic congestion.
Four downtown area officers and one Hermitage patrol officer have been trained to ride them.
And the officers are giving them thumbs up. They’re about as maneuverable as a bicycle but much faster.
“Of course everyone is always glad to see us on the streets and sidewalks, and being out there where they can see us and address us,” York said.
York said he remembers that the same novelty was there years ago when officers began using bicycles to patrol downtown. Now it’s become commonplace.
York figures the novelty of the scooters will likewise subside after a while.
Police scooters also are in use in Memphis, where Beale Street merchants and the Memphis’ Center City Commission donated half of the 12 bikes to facilitate police patrols in the popular downtown district.
In recent years, Metro police also experimented with Segways, which can transport a standing person around slightly faster than walking, but have decided not to use them for patrol officers.