If you've been in one of our major train stations in the past few months you've probably seen them and thought "WTF?" Y'know what we're talking about: police officers in bike helmets riding souped-up three-wheeled scooters in circles. Does it it help that nobody really seems to have a good argument for the mall cop-style transports, called T3 electric standup vehicles? No? Oh well. The NYPD is now the proud owner of 29 of them.
The main argument for the T3s seems to be height. In a statement the NYPD defended the T3s since "from a standing position, the officer can see and be seen easily from a distance. In addition to providing greater police officer visibility, officers on T3s cover greater distances more quickly than by foot." Great, right? Except that height quickly becomes a hindrance once an officer wants to actually go anywhere since many of our subway station's ceilings are litered with low-hanging pipes. And chasing after a perp is all well and good, until you get to a staircase. "We take the elevator," a scooter officer at the Times Square station told the News.
All of which makes us wonder, in this age of tight budgets is buying semi-useless toys for cops really the best way for the NYPD to spend its dough? And why is the NYPD declining to answer questions regarding the price of the T3s? If officers were looking to add some height, wouldn't an NYPD-branded footstool or ladder suffice?
