- April 24, 2024
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When Deputy William Lowe's buddies at the Flagler Sheriff's Office told him he was getting a new patrol vehicle, he didn't expect one that could fit inside an elevator.
"They handed me these tiny keys, and I said, 'Uh, these don't go to a Crown Victoria,'" he said.
The vehicle the keys fit isn’t a cruiser. It’s a scooter.
Lowe, more accustomed to the speed of police cars and the throaty rumble of the Harley-Davidsons he rides on patrol, was disappointed — until he stepped onto the thing and took it for a spin.
“The minute you get on it, you love it,” he said. “It’s actually pretty cool.”
The vehicle, produced by California-based company T3 Motion, looks like a beefed-up Segway with a third wheel and red and blue flashing lights, and it’s ridden in much the same way, with the rider standing up.
It’s battery-powered and near-silent, and can go places Lowe’s Crown Vic and Harley can’t.
“It’s great for the retail stores,” Lowe said. “You can see over all of the aisles, and the clerks love it. I’ve had it in just about every store in town.”
The Sheriff’s Office got the scooter about two years ago with grant money and would like to get another, said Sgt. Greg Tietje. It cost about $14,000 and is designed to ADA specifications, so it can go anywhere a wheelchair can.
About 15 deputies use it regularly, mostly for patrolling the bike paths around Belle Terre Parkway and Royal Palms Parkway near the Palm Coast Fire Station, where the scooter is kept.
Lowe also used it to patrol the streets of Pine Grove after homes and cars in the neighborhood were vandalized, and to police events at Town Center.
It always draws a crowd, he said, and sometimes a few jabs from teens who call him a "mall cop."
"It's hard to look tough on this thing," he said.
But it's a good patrol vehicle, he said, even if it doesn't have the macho image of a Harley hog.
“This gives you the ability to sneak up on the guy you’re about to chase,” said Lowe. “It gives us a unique advantage.”
And although many of the places deputies use the scooter can be accessed by bicycle, Tietje said, riding the T3 is faster — it tops out at around 20 mph — and gives deputies a higher vantage point.
Lowe likes the vehicle in part because community members do.
"They love it — because it's more visible, because it's less intrusive," he said. "It doesn't get any less intimidating than this."
