RPD test drives a new innovative vehicle

Last Thursday the Roxboro Police Department test drove new innovative vehicles that could assist with community functions.

That morning officers could be seen in RPD’s parking lot test driving Trikke vehicles, which are motorized scooters.

Even the company’s representatives, the chief and another officer got in on the fun and test drove the vehicles from Roxboro City Hall to Roxboro Community School and back.

“What was really neat was to see how the kids reacted. In fact one student told us that product made the police approachable and took the intimidation factor out of the way because we were cool,” said Roxboro Chief of Police David Hess.

The Trikke vehicles were designed for recreational and commercial use but the company specifically designed the vehicles that the officers were riding that morning for police use.

These vehicles sparked the department’s interest after seeing them at a recent police conference.

Officers wanted to learn more about the product, test it, evaluate it and see what kind of functionality it had.

“The battery life is absolutely amazing and the capabilities are absolutely amazing. It is a really safe product in my opinion and easy to learn how to ride,” said Hess.

If the department seeks funding to buy the vehicles, they would be used for community functions like Personality and Jingle on Main.

“We continue to have a lot of community events in our Uptown district and as those events grow there are more people, which requires more resources to be used for public safety,” said Hess.

However, residents don’t have to worry about seeing these vehicles at the next community function or on the road anytime soon because the department has not evaluated their funding for the vehicles.

“We don’t have anything budgeted. We have not made any plans to purchase them at this point. We have not asked for any quotes on the equipment. It is just a really innovative product that we wanted to take the opportunity to look at,” said Hess.