10.) Advanced sirens
Woop-woop, that's the sound of the police. Even at low frequency:
No more loud sirens (although they can still be utilized as shown in the clip) only a "boom" of sorts, as it comes closer (akin to a minor earthquake). That way, it doesn't wake anyone up, or frighten the elderly. It also helps distracted drivers pay attention to emergency personnel on route.
Suggested By: TokyoBayAquaLine
9.) Hidden LEDs
And the next thing you know, you're busted.
LarsVargas doesn't like the idea:
I refuse to pull over for an unmarked car. I will call 911, report that someone is trying to pull me over, and have them send a well-marked unit.
Suggested By: Grand Moff Talkin', Photo Credit: Highway Patrol Images
8.) Cop tires
It's easy to forget how high tech modern tire construction is these days. Just look how expensive these cop-spec tires are and you'll see what I mean.
That and if you have a set of these, you only need a cop motor, a cop suspension, cop shocks, an exhaust without catalytic converter and a working cigarette lighter to end up with the new Bluesmobile.
Suggested By: The Scrambler says it can be done, Photo Credit: Firestone
7.) Police POV
It's better than that Steven Seagal show.
Suggested By: GR1M RACER : Wrong Most of the Time
6.) The James Bond license reader
French cops can catch you for speeding from their own moving cop cars. Then again, we always knew the French are sneaky. Just ask Clarkson and Hammond.
Suggested By: BATC42
5.) GPS and heat sensors on K9 dogs
K9 dogs are getting sensors and automatic fans for their own safety inside the cop cars. It's not robodog yet because real ones are still better than computers, but we're getting there.
Suggested By: $kaycog Photo Credit: Elsa Blaine
4.) Automatic license readers
Four cameras, about 14,400 pictures an hour. iDriveCode3 has more:
The debate over how this may or may not violate civil rights boils down to the same discussion: at what boundary do we define public vs. private? As it stands, if you walk out of your house, onto public property, public streets, public places, and if there's a reasonable expectation that someone can SEE you, there's no difference between been seen and being recorded that you were in that public place or view. ALPR are an extension of that train of thought. I honestly don't see that changing any time soon.
What's being advanced with this technology is the pooling of individual city resources. We have about four of our twenty cars equipped with ALPR. We also average about one stolen vehicle report each day. We recover those cars and get them back to their owners much faster with ALPR. In addition, having that data in a searchable database with GPS information means we can track suspect vehicles in a forensic, evidentiary way to show patterns of criminal behavior (think strings of residential burglaries). Now expand that database out to the region, and things start to get interesting. We contribute to the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center (NCRIC) and can access all their ALRP's in real time. We've solved a lot of crime through that partnership.
Suggested By: iDriveCode3
3.) Surveillance cameras
How about even more cameras recording your every move?
Welcome to New York City! New car-mounted surveillance cameras can send live video back to headquarters.
Suggested By: Raphael Orlove, Photo Credit: André Gustavo Stumpf
2.) Spy drones
Next to the cameras on wheels, you have the flying ones. Like helicopters, these drones can assist cruisers, boldly going where no policeman has gone before.
Suggested By: manifold engines, wanting for time
1.) StarChase
This is proper 2 Fast 2 Furious stuff:
Referred to as a pursuit reduction technology, the StarChase system launches a miniature GPS tracker from a compressed-air cannon mounted on the police vehicle's grill. Once attached, an officer can end a pursuit and track the vehicle at a later time.
Just give them rockets already!
Suggested By: Diesel, Photo Credit: StarChase
Welcome back to Answers of the Day - our daily Jalopnik feature where we take the best ten responses from the previous day's Question of the Day and shine it up to show off. It's by you and for you, the Jalopnik readers. Enjoy!
Top Photo Credit: Universal Pictures
The Ten Most Advanced Police Car Technologies