Future Police Car On-Board Computers

[TurboDan]

Saw this on the local news tonight. Pretty cool stuff:

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news%2Flocal&id=8296370

[bing_oh]

Must be nice to have those kinds of resources.

[dazzleman]

That's pretty sweet.  I wonder what Greg thinks of it.

[giant_mtb]

I mean, that's cool, but I feel like most cops can pull off the simple task of turning on their fancy flashing lights without even thinking of it.

The rest is cool, though, like the video streaming and all that.

[bing_oh]

I mean, that's cool, but I feel like most cops can pull off the simple task of turning on their fancy flashing lights without even thinking of it.

The rest is cool, though, like the video streaming and all that.

I found the ability to activate emergency equipment by voice to be the most useful aspect of the system, actually. While the act of turning on the lights and sirens may be, by itself, a "simple task," it becomes increasingly complicated when you're initiating a pursuit or running hot to an active emergency call. Realize that we're not just driving but doing things like using the radio to receive and relay information to the dispatcher and other officer while trying to get as much information as possible. You run out of hands very quickly and looking down to hit the lightbar switch takes your eyes off of the road (and, potentially, a dangerous suspect vehicle) at what is probably an increasing speed. Making these kinds of things hands-free makes it safer for the officer and the public around him. I would like to see a hands-free toggle for the radio next...probably the most dangerous thing we do when running hot in regards to equipment usage is having to take a hand off the wheel to pick up the mic for the radio.

[Soup DeVille]

I found the ability to activate emergency equipment by voice to be the most useful aspect of the system, actually. While the act of turning on the lights and sirens may be, by itself, a "simple task," it becomes increasingly complicated when you're initiating a pursuit or running hot to an active emergency call. Realize that we're not just driving but doing things like using the radio to receive and relay information to the dispatcher and other officer while trying to get as much information as possible. You run out of hands very quickly and looking down to hit the lightbar switch takes your eyes off of the road (and, potentially, a dangerous suspect vehicle) at what is probably an increasing speed. Making these kinds of things hands-free makes it safer for the officer and the public around him. I would like to see a hands-free toggle for the radio next...probably the most dangerous thing we do when running hot in regards to equipment usage is having to take a hand off the wheel to pick up the mic for the radio.

Another, less costly solution might be to have an aftermarket "LEO edition" steering wheel with appropriate buttons on the wheel spokes.

[bing_oh]

Another, less costly solution might be to have an aftermarket "LEO edition" steering wheel with appropriate buttons on the wheel spokes.

I'm not sure that such a solution would have been less costly, actually. Assuming that we're talking about a vehicle with a computerized lightbar system (which are becoming more common), we're talking about nothing more than voice recognition software and a computer mic. Neither are particulary expensive. Also, the question arises about lightbar compatability with a steering wheel mounted system. New lightbars are all computerized and controled from (usually proprietary) control boxes. They also have a shitload of controls. These are more technical questions than I could answer, though.