New police car: one step closer to K.I.T.T.

The suicide doors make sense for putting people into the back seats that are handcuffed. That's a bitch of a task if the guy/gal's got long-ish (ie, not a midget) legs.
 
I know that most departments like the Crown Vic, and that has always been the work horse of most departments, but seeing the interior of this car I see lots of details that cops will love.


  • The seats are made to accomodate the utility belt worn by officers. Ever pull up next to a cop at a light? They usually are sitting in an unusual position because of all that gear.
  • The wide opening suicide doors probably make it easier for the officer to get suspects in and out of the back seat.
  • Seat belt tenders to strap the suspect in
  • The shape of the divider optimizes comfort for the officer and allows for long-gun storage in the cab
  • Integrated radio, siren, radar and computer systems mean more room for the officer.
  • Integrated light bars make the cops harder to spot from a distance - I hate the idea but they will love it.
  • Integrated push bars front and back
  • Nice tall "greenhouse" with lots of glass for visibility.
  • Intimidation factor!
https://pic.armedcats.net/a/an/anonymous/2008/11/12/car_20interior1.jpg

The ergonomics of the current police cars suck. The laptop is nearly on the passenger's lap and obscures most the dash controls. The radio, light and siren are under your elbow, forcing you to take your eyes off the road to do anything - or do it by touch while contorting yourself to reach. The seats are not made for someone wearing a utility belt and most cars don't have integrated "rolling radar."

This set up lets you use the dash, but you can't roll with a partner.
https://pic.armedcats.net/a/an/anonymous/2008/11/12/Interior_Car.jpg
 
Local cops here just picked up about 30 EeePC's with Linux for the new in-car laptops, so that gets rid of some of the problems that Blind_Io mentioned about the lack of space for a computer...

On topic, that's a really shit looking car, but it looks far more useable as a copcar than the Crown Vics do...
 
Seatbelts - Rear: In-custody safety transport restraints; child safety seat lower anchors and tethers
Has anyone ever seen a child safety seat in the back of a patrol car?
 
Actually, I have. Sometimes officers have to transport children from crime or accident scenes. Usually they call Social Services to come pick them up, but in rare occasions they have to transport children. In some inner city areas kids younger than 10 are getting picked up and must be restrained with either a booster seat or lowered seat belt points.

EDIT:
Something else I noticed was the siren controls on the steering wheel, along with macros for Code 1, Code 2, and Code 3. Very nice feature.

Just looking at the inside again compared with the bodged-together Crown Vic, I think about where I would rather spend my day. Cops have a difficult and stressful job, I can only imagine the psychological impact of having this type of integrated system. Really, in which car would you rather spend 8 hours a day 5 days a week?
 
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The only other thing that is a real concern is that the Crown Vic can be cheap to run because of its popularity. This car is going to be a bespoked Police Car made by a small car company. The question is, how much will it cost to maintain and use? I suppose that because it has a diesel engine, the engine will require less maintenance than your regular Modular 4.6L V8.
 
That is the question - if they can get enough departments buying it the cost will go down for each unit. Also, think about the value in equipment and man-hours of installation saved with a fully integrated system.

EDIT:
I just watched the second video - if you listen to the rep you can hear him say the car can run in "blackout mode" with no exterior or interior lights, it even dims the main display system. Who knows what other goodies they have come up with for this thing.
 
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Blind_Io said:
That is the question - if they can get enough departments buying it the cost will go down for each unit. Also, think about the value in equipment and man-hours of installation saved with a fully integrated system.

EDIT:
I just watched the second video - if you listen to the rep you can hear him say the car can run in "blackout mode" with no exterior or interior lights, it even dims the main display system. Who knows what other goodies they have come up with for this thing.
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It has an optional integrated FLIR module and can be gotten with a night-vision compatible dashboard, something that you have to spend a LOT of money on to get on the CV.

Something else - the way police cars are set up now, all the equipment in the cars is from different vendors. And, in fact, even on similar cars of different years, the city may have had to get gear from different vendors instead, which leads to a support nightmare and greatly increased costs.

Wizegui said:
The only other thing that is a real concern is that the Crown Vic can be cheap to run because of its popularity. This car is going to be a bespoked Police Car made by a small car company. The question is, how much will it cost to maintain and use? I suppose that because it has a diesel engine, the engine will require less maintenance than your regular Modular 4.6L V8.
Click to expand...

One of the things they might do is add in a maintenance contract and design it modularly, much like they do on aircraft - if the engine/powertrain module has a problem, you remove it, slap in the ready spare provided, and the car's back out on the street in less than a day. Meanwhile, the dead powertrain module gets crated up and shipped back, and a new or remanufactured module is shipped to the service depot to be on hand. Something like that might actually reduce motor pool staffing and costs, actually. That would probably be more critical for smaller departments rather than larger ones.
 
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I remember reading about this when it was in the concept stage, it's pretty neat that they've managed to drum up enough interest to build one. Well, as a habitual speeder/generally idiotic driver I don't like it, but just looking at that car next to a Crown Vic (or the even more cramped, breakage prone Charger) I can absolutely see why some precincts may be willing to pay a premium for it, and why cops everywhere seem to have a collective orgasm over it.

It's a shame they won't let it fall into civilian hands though. As tough as Crown Vic Interceptors are I'd love to see how much abuse a purpose-built cop car could stand. Chargers though, :lol:. Riley County PD out here bought 4 Chargers a few years ago, 2 V8s and 2 V6 cars, as a trial. A cop told me a couple weeks ago that they had gotten rid of the V6 cars (said they're "completely useless"), and only kept the V8 cars for highway duty. They've got a thing for the Impala cop cars here.

A complete maintenance contract, along with all the gadgets being standard, would certainly be appealing. But I'm curious as to why they chose BMW powertrains. Surely a GM V8, or even the Ford 4.6, would be cheaper all the way around.
 
The main reason I think they won't let it into civilian hands is because there's no way to strip out all those integrated systems. I mean, how do you take the light bar off when it's part of the roof?
 
Blind_Io said:
The main reason I think they won't let it into civilian hands is because there's no way to strip out all those integrated systems. I mean, how do you take the light bar off when it's part of the roof?
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That and concerns about police impersonation, which is on the rise.

The "CODE 1 CODE 2 CODE 3" switches are not a new concept. It was invented in the early 80s by Unitrol and the originals are still in production. The slide switch on the bottom left serves as the "CODE 1 CODE 2 CODE 3" interface. On a side note; that siren makes some down right funky noise.
 
matt2000 said:
:jawdrop: I WANT THAT IN MY LIFE. But does it come with a Hemi V8? That would be the icing on the rock-cake.
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Nope, it'll most like be only the 3.0L diesel. The possibility of a V8 would be interesting though...
 
Most PDs have a one officer policy, so not having room in the passenger seat for your partner that you don't have isn't a concern.


The only way this car has a hope in hell of succeeding is when the Crown Vic goes out of production, which should be about 2012 or so.

Diesel doesn't go boom in a car accident as easily as gas, so that's why they've went that route....

I'm still skeptical about this car, yeah its interesting, yeah the officers are interested, but what happens when they actually use it?

Again the car isn't proven, none of it has been tested in real world senarios...its a gamble to go from something everyone already likes to something thats new. Police Departments hate change...
 
Ezbok58a said:
Again the car isn't proven, none of it has been tested in real world senarios...its a gamble to go from something everyone already likes to something thats new. Police Departments hate change...
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Police want toys
 
The lights integrated into the roof are quite a nifty idea. Much cooler than the stupid hummers that Victorian Police have now. I saw one on Swanston Street this week and man did it look like a stupid stickered pile of wank.
 
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