Gadgets in Police Cruisers a Growing Danger

ALOHA, One of my favorite movies in the whole wide world,
is the Science fiction Thriller "THEM" ants become radio
active mutants as big as a Greyhound Bus. The reason I
like this movie, is not the Ants or their story.
The cops. The New Mexico State Police.
They had the same equipment on their cruisers that were
on Mass. State Police Cruisers, when i started in January 1968. 17 years after the movie was made.
Even the Thompson Sub-Machine guns were
available in the gun lockers. The Cruisers were marked, had a roof light, a 100 watt radio, (theirs were probably 50 watt). The troopers had their badges, guns, bullets, and uniforms.
Of course when they left the cruiser, they left their radio's
because there were no portables to speak of. Even in the
movie the Walkie Talkies were supplied by the Army.
Now the equipment in the cruisers cost more than the
cruiser itself. Learning how to use the equipment must
take a class in the academy. I guess that's progress.

As a recently retired police veteran, 34 years on the job, I know from where you speak. I've gone from no hand held radios, to computers in the car. I was there during trial periods where we had to make our own computer holders, or just lay them on what ever was next to us being a console or seat. It's dangerous as hell and I've experienced those near misses. What always did piss me off was the fact that if you did get into a wreck you ALWAYS received some sort of discipline whether it was a counseling record in your file or worse. I really got a kick out of how when cell phones became common place, everybody cried out about how bad and dangerous it was when citizens talked on their cell phones and drove at the same time. We were practically doing the same thing while taking down radio calls that included address and other data that you had to write down. While driving. It was crazy, still is and getting worse. One way to prevent it would be to make 2 man cars mandatory but the city fathers won't do that because it would reduce the number of patrol cars out there. In the long run the lowly officer on the street pays by being put into a potential dangerous position repeatedly every day where he/she can get killed or disciplined just for doing their sworn duty.

With a Partner in the car, using all the technology and driving a police car is made a lot safer. One drives, one types, talks and scans. Too easy!

why don't they make this stuff voice activated. so the driver can input information without needing to look at anything but the road. the driver should be able to interact with the equipment vocally without being visually distracted, except for the moment needed to look at a map, which they can do when stopped at an intersection or something.

So it comes down to cost? Equipment and procedures can save lives and prevent injury but this is weighed on the cost. Just how much is one officer life worth?!!

Officer deserve top notch safety equipment.

If I was on a jury of an injured officer due to cheapskates not wanting to properly equip/staff officer..... It would be coslty!

wondering if anyone is familar with the mechanial sway bar used on police cars in the seventies?