The Police Cruiser: 2 feet on 4 wheels

 Throughout this blog I want to focus on modern advancements of technology in policing leaving some of the history behind. I don't feel that we need to go through the invention of the wheel in order to get to talking about the invention of the car, as it can be boring and it's not what people want to read. The whole point is I want to create a discussion forum that people enjoy looking at and I enjoy keeping up with. That being said, I do feel that if we're going to discuss police radios and their advancement, and the technology available to put inside of a police cruiser, we should discuss a little bit of the history seeing as the police cruiser really was the start of the modern technological advancements available to police officers.

  Prior to the New York City Police Department introducing the first radio mounted patrol cars to their police force in the 1920s, a police officer was typically seen around town walking a specific route or a "beat". This allowed officers to interact face to face with the public on a daily basis, stopping into businesses and speaking with store owners. Members of the community got to know the officers assigned to the beats where they worked or lived, by their first name. The interaction that this provided seemed to be a good thing but as is the case with anything it had its downsides as well.

 Having an officer on foot significantly increased the amount of time it took to get from one place to another in case of an emergency. This also decreased the number of officers available to respond to a certain call. If an officer was assigned to a section of the city miles away he/she would be unable to respond to the emergency on the other end of the city on foot. Putting officers in cars allowed for multiple officers to get to a specific location at a moments notice. It seemed to be the perfect advancement for policing in the United States.

 As stated before, people's opinions vary on different things and with advancement sometimes comes downsides. Similar to online college courses, many view the police car as the reason there is such a gap between community and police relations today. Where online college courses are convenient ways to complete your education, it does eliminate the typical student/teacher interaction to a certain degree. Similarly critics have said that putting officers in cars and having them drive past the person walking to the bus stop in the morning has eliminated the normal human interaction of a friendly "good morning" as the officer and the citizen pass each other on the sidewalk. Critics have also said that the cruiser becomes a virtual "lock box" driving down the street with the windows up as officers have the windows rolled up with the air conditioner on in the summer and the heat on in the winter, further separating themselves from the public.

 During the community policing phase brought on in the 1990s to help bridge the communication gap between the police and the public, many departments started to require their officers to sign off on "park and walks" during their shifts. A "park and walk" was just that, the officer was required to advise the dispatcher that they were parking their cruiser in a certain location (usually by a set of stores) and walking around the area talking to people. This practice is still required by many departments today.

 Since the invention of the police cruiser we have seen the three biggest US automakers (Chevrolet, Chrysler, and Ford) test their design skills with heavy duty versions of their civilian family sedans. Chevy has used the Impala, Dodge has reintroduced the Charger, and the most popular police cruiser amongst the three automakers, Ford has been using the Crown Victoria. All automakers have supplied their sedans with major differences from those available to their civilian family sedan counterparts. The differences include bigger/faster engines, heavy duty suspension, heavy duty braking mechanisms, and heavy duty wiring to handle all of the electronics that go into making up a police car. The preference for cars seems to lie with the Chief and his/her personal preference to a particular automaker and the budget given to purchase the car, however all are proven effective.



Chevrolet Impala Police Package



Ford Crown Victoria Police Package



Dodge Charger Police Package



 At the onset police cars used to have a small bubble style light mounted to the top of the roof and a two way radio. The typical police car today is equipped with a radar unit, a digital mobile radio allowing agency to agency contact, a mobile data terminal (mdt)/laptop, and electronic warning lights. All of which will be examined further throughout the blog.

I cannot comment on how effective walking beats were as they took place before my time in this job. I can only say that the invention of the police car has become a tool that every officer relies on to get their job done the most efficient way possible. Could the car become a "lock box" separating the police from the general public? One cannot discount that idea, but an effective police officer is someone who can obtain information from the public about specific crimes or specific intelligence. The only way to obtain that information is to build trust with members of the community. The only way to build that trust is to talk to people. If the officer wants to be effective, the police cruiser is a great tool that will continue to advance as an efficient mobile office as time goes on.