Airport security rides, patrols on Segway vehicles

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department has debuted two new vehicles for security personnel at John Wayne Airport this week, seeking to improve officers’ visibility and their response time to crisis situations.

The new vehicles, which made their first appearance Thursday, are the two-wheel Segway PT and the three-wheel T3. Both machines operate on lithium batteries and produce no emissions. They will be used for patrols on the airport’s upper and lower runways, in the parking structures and inside the terminal.

The Segway PT and T3 both hold a single driver and can start and stop quickly with a zero-turn radius.

“These vehicles improve our response time to emergencies and allow our officers to arrive on the scene fresh and ready to take appropriate action,” said Capt. Dennis DeMaio of the Sheriff’s Department in a news release. “These vehicles will greatly improve our officers’ visibility around the airport and allow them to cover more area in less time.”

— Michael Miller