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Ford system tracks cops' driving
Chris Woodyard,
USA TODAY
October 27, 2014
LOS ANGELES — Police officers, many of whom are already wearing body cameras, now may have their police car driving skills scrutinized, as well.
The Los Angeles Police Department is testing new technology in 50 police cruisers that will allow supervisors to keep a close eye on whether officers are hot-dogging around the city instead of setting an example of careful driving. It also monitors whether officers are wearing their seat belts.
The system is the joint effort between Ford and a technology company, Telogis, of Aliso Viejo, Calif. It's a factory-installed option for police agencies ordering either the Police Interceptor sedan — a redone Taurus — or SUV — a law-enforcement version of the Explorer.
Both companies say they see the system as an important step forward.
"The leading cause of death of police officers is crashes," says Gary Oldham, manager of public safety business development for Telogis. And with little more than four of 10 police officers believed to be wearing seat belts on a regular basis while patrolling, "We're losing too many cops where it is preventable."
The new system, called Ford Telematics powered by Telogis for Law Enforcement, measures factors like speed compared to the posted limit, seat belt usage, harsh braking and acceleration, whether the car has spun out, the status of the anti-lock braking system, yaw and airbag status. While telematics systems like this have become popular among fleet operators in recent years to keep track of their vehicles in real time, this one is customized for police use. For instance, it can tell supervisors when the telematics correlate with use of the light bar — the red and blue emergency lights on a top of a car — indicating the car was on an emergency call or pursuit.
More at link: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2014/10/27/ford-telogis/17991301/
Chris Woodyard,
USA TODAY
October 27, 2014
LOS ANGELES — Police officers, many of whom are already wearing body cameras, now may have their police car driving skills scrutinized, as well.
The Los Angeles Police Department is testing new technology in 50 police cruisers that will allow supervisors to keep a close eye on whether officers are hot-dogging around the city instead of setting an example of careful driving. It also monitors whether officers are wearing their seat belts.
The system is the joint effort between Ford and a technology company, Telogis, of Aliso Viejo, Calif. It's a factory-installed option for police agencies ordering either the Police Interceptor sedan — a redone Taurus — or SUV — a law-enforcement version of the Explorer.
Both companies say they see the system as an important step forward.
"The leading cause of death of police officers is crashes," says Gary Oldham, manager of public safety business development for Telogis. And with little more than four of 10 police officers believed to be wearing seat belts on a regular basis while patrolling, "We're losing too many cops where it is preventable."
The new system, called Ford Telematics powered by Telogis for Law Enforcement, measures factors like speed compared to the posted limit, seat belt usage, harsh braking and acceleration, whether the car has spun out, the status of the anti-lock braking system, yaw and airbag status. While telematics systems like this have become popular among fleet operators in recent years to keep track of their vehicles in real time, this one is customized for police use. For instance, it can tell supervisors when the telematics correlate with use of the light bar — the red and blue emergency lights on a top of a car — indicating the car was on an emergency call or pursuit.
More at link: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2014/10/27/ford-telogis/17991301/