Robot police to patrol Tiananmen Square

• Source: Global Times
• [13:08 January 06 2011]
• Comments

Two police ride scooters while patrolling the Tiananmen area Wednesday. Photo: CFP

By Zhang Hui

Police around Tiananmen have adopted two-wheeled self balancing vehicles to assist in their patrols, the Beijing Public Security Bureau announced Wednesday. They expect use of the vehicles to go citywide at police stations in the future.

"The vehicles are in trial operation, just making their debut on New Year," an officer of Tiananmen Public Security Bureau told the Global Times Wednesday. He added that there are only five such vehicles around the square at the moment.

The shape of the scooter-like vehicle is formed by a vertical pole with handlebars attached at the top and two wheels either side of the base. Each vehicle can seat one person and is controlled by a shifting of the users weight. They bear a resemblance to Segway scooters in the West.

But according to a CCTV report, the Ningbo GQY Video and Telecom Company, based in Zhejiang Province, has claimed the rights to the vehicle for the last 10 years. "The vehicle is entirely intellectual property of China," the report stated.

"Its small size helps police arrive at emergency sites much quicker," Zi Xiangdong, spokesman for the Bureau, told the Global Times. The vehicle is used when patrolling the Tiananmen area at 10 am and 2 pm every day, added Zi.

Yan Shuang contributed to this story