Chinese cops on patrol for shoplifters on electric scooters
Shoplifters in China will struggle to outrun the police thanks to these new Segway-style scooters.
Police officers have been kitted out with the twowheeled electric vehicles in Chengdu City, Sichuan Province - leading them to be dubbed the Segway section.
The Jinjiang police force has stocked up on the 10 scooters as a greener and more efficient way to patrol the city’s Chunxi Road shopping district than motorcycles or cars.
The latest acquisitions were unveiled yesterday with an eye-catching public display in the pedestrianised city centre.
But all the officers taking part made sure they were wearing their regulation helmets, as shoppers stopped, starred and took pictures of the passing police.
The regional police force is following the lead of others in the country, including in the capital Beijing where officers use the vehicles to patrol Tienanmen Square.
Other officers around the world also use the technology, including in Franklin in the U.S. state of Tennessee.
In Rome this week, many of the 500 Civil Protection Volunteers used Segways as they patrolled the crowds of hundreds of thousands of people who flocked to the Italian capital for the election of the Pope.
The original Segway is produced by Segway Inc. in New Hampshire, U.S., and is self-balancing.
It was first launched more than 10 years ago but many countries differ when it comes to where they are allowed to be driven and by whom.
In Israel, users must be aged 16 or over and are not allowed to go over 8mph. In 2009 the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo became the first in the world to offer guided Segway tours around the attraction.
In Britain, Phillip Coates, from a Barnsley, made headlines in 2011 when he was fined £75 for riding his Segway on footpaths in the South Yorkshire town.
He was prosecuted under the Highways Act 1835 because the electric scooter was classed as a motor vehicle.