NYPD unveils the police car of your nightmares

by Ben Reilly Fri Dec 27, 2013 4:16 pm

To the untrained eye, it looks like almost any other New York Police Department cruiser combing the city's streets—but this squad car has just as much brains as it does brawn.

It is the department's prototype "smart car," outfitted with the latest gadgets in public safety. It has two infrared monitors mounted on the trunk that record any numbers it sees—such as license plates and addresses. It has surveillance cameras and air sensors capable of sending real-time information to police headquarters. The NYPD says it is the cruiser of the very near future.

The smart car is one of dozens of projects included in a long-term strategic plan known as NYPD2020, prepared in November for Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.

The 13-page report describes initiatives ranging from the high-tech (500 officers have received Samsung Rugby smartphones equipped to deliver real-time crime data) to the bureaucratic (new guidelines for recruiting and keeping qualified candidates). More than a dozen are already under way.

The initiative began in 2011, under the guidance of McKinsey & Co. The consulting firm worked with NYPD officials over 11 months to create a road map for the department over the next decade. McKinsey & Co. declined to comment.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304475004579278122995687950

by Beekeeper Sat Dec 28, 2013 6:05 am

THAT hydraulic battering ram on the front could come in handy around here at times !

I do notice that half the items in that drawing are already available at the moment in car accessory shops around here ~ could most likely probably do a lot better in Honkers, Jo'burg, or Havana, as well..

Razz

P.S. WOULDN'T it be doubly cool if you could launch a drone from the back of one's vehicle, and watch the video feed from inside !

by Ben Reilly Sat Dec 28, 2013 6:19 am

See, I'm wondering about what they didn't tell us these cars have ... because for a supposedly futuristic police vehicle, the only two things that raised red flags for me as new are the license-plate readers and the chemical sniffers.

Back when I was trying to get into the police academy (sic) you had to be able to read a moving license plate from 100 feet away. Which still seems damn-near impossible to me.

by Beekeeper Sat Dec 28, 2013 7:57 pm

THEY started fitting car rego' readers to police cars over here last year ~ they can get the cars records and registered owner's details up on the in-car computer within a few seconds..

Roadside radar cameras can also have the same technology fitted to them. Let the the police know nearly instantly if the car is unregistered or stolen; and if the registered owner has been disqualified. Also lists the model car, chassis and engine numbers, and original-paint colour and number, along with rego' !