In-Vehicle Mounts
In-vehicle mounts keep devices like computers and printers perfectly positioned in your roving office. View our photo gallery of seven current offerings from police suppliers.
Photo Gallery
Lenco BEAR & BearCat In Action
View our gallery featuring images of Lenco's BEAR and BearCat Armored Rescue Vehicles (ARVs) in use by several law enforcement agencies. Editor's note: This gallery is sponsored by Lenco.
LAPD's Air Support Division
The LAPD Air Support Division is the largest municipal airborne law enforcement organization in the U.S. and operates from the LAPD Hooper Heliport. The helicopter crews assist with thousands of arrests, pursuits and crimes in progress each year. The LAPD's airborne law enforcement program began with one helicopter in 1956. Today, the Air Support Division is the largest municipal airborne law enforcement operation in the world and logged more than 18,000 flight hours in 2011. Photos courtesy of the LAPD's Air Support Angel's Foundation.
Michigan Vehicle Tests In Pictures
The Michigan State Police tested 2012 model-year patrol vehicles at this year's tests in mid-September. State troopers assigned to the Precision Driving Unit tested vehicles submitted by Chrysler/Dodge, Ford, General Motors/Chevrolet, BMW, Harley-Davidson, Kawasaki, and Victory Motorcycles. Photos courtesy of Michigan State Police unless indicated otherwise.
Victory Police Motorcycles
Victory Motorcycles, a division of Polaris, has introduced three new motorcycles into the police market for 2012—the Commander I, Commander II, and Vision. The touring-type bikes are conversions of the civilian Victory models Cross Country, Cross Roads, and Vision Tour respectively. The distinctively styled bikes have been upfitted for police use, tested in Michigan and Los Angeles by precision LE drivers, and adopted by several smaller agencies. Victory reps tout the officer-safety features on the cycles.
Police Helicopters
Law enforcement agencies usually select helicopters for their airborne unit with the mission in mind—lighter, single-engine craft work well for patrol and surveillance, while larger-capacity, twin-engine craft are better suited for search-and-rescue operations. View our gallery of several of the more commonly deployed police helicopters.
Hot Wheels: Most Stolen Vehicles
Each summer, two insurance-industry associations — the Highway Loss Data Institute and National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) — release lists of the top 10 vehicles stolen across the country in the prior year. For the fourth year in a row, the Cadillac Escalade was the most stolen insured vehicle, according to the institute, which lists only vehicles with theft coverage. The NICB's report is typically more comprehensive because it covers all stolen vehicles reported by law enforcement agencies, including those that are not insured. The 1994 Honda Accord, which could be worth about $2,000 on the open market in good condition, tops the NICB report. The 735,547 vehicles stolen in 2010 represents the fewest number of stolen vehicles since the 659,800 reported stolen in 1967.
Motorola's Connected Patrol Car
Motorola Solutions unveiled its concept of a next-generation patrol vehicle at a July press event that brings many new communications capabilities to field officers. Motorola's Chevy Caprice includes an LTE broadband modem, steering wheel controls for radio communication, and voice-command technology. Video processing technology optimizes in-car video streaming into and out of the vehicle.
2011 Dodge Charger Pursuit
Law enforcement agencies such as the Boise (Idaho) Police Department have opted for Chrysler's 2011 Dodge Charger Pursuit as their new patrol car to replace the Crown Vic being phased out by Ford this year. Rather than introduce a new model, Chrysler opted to upgrade its existing Charger. For the 2011 model year, Chrysler added a Pentastar V-6 engine option and added electronic stability control to the suspension for better handling during higher-speed pursuits. Watch our Charger video feature from the Michigan vehicle testing.
Vintage Patrol: 1968 Dodge Coronet
Ted Saraf's strong memories of his rolling office as a young officer with the Pasadena (Calif.) Police Department led him to Texas in 2008 to find and restore the object of his affection—a 1968 Dodge Coronet. Saraf purchased the vehicle via eBay, and set out to lovingly restore it to how he remembered it during its service days in the late 1960s and '70s. Saraf brought the vehicle to the 2011 Police Fleet Expo to show attendees his finished work.
Ford P.I. Utility
Ford's Police Interceptor Utility is currently a prototype, and the automaker is still refining the vehicle for a scheduled 2012 model-year release. Ford is releasing the special-service vehicle based on the Ford Explorer, which was relaunched for civilians in 2011. However, this pursuit-rated utility has been specially designed for law enforcement. It will be built in Chicago and is equipped with a 3.5-liter V-6 engine rated to deliver at least 280 hp.