Let me take a look at your menu there...
Yeah, three cheeseburgers, two large fries, two chocolate shakes and one large coke.
And some flapjacks.
...
Too early for flapjacks?
Anybody else notice they give a prisoner in the backseat instant access to a shotgun and an assault rifle as a reward for busting through the divider? Awful sporting of the cops.
I'm wondering if they ever implemented the system where a officer hits one button, and everything he usually does to get ready for a pursuit gets done, i.e. calling in his position, his car number, turning on the lights/strobes, horn/siren, etc... to make it easier to concentrate on the road.
Giz reader here. But I'm also a police officer. There are several major issues with this design. First off, the main reason it'll fail is cost. Fleet services will not buy this if it is more expensive than the Crown Vic. It doesn't matter that it may be cheaper to operate over the life of the vehicle. The bean-counters down in city hall only care about up front costs. Police don't need touch screen do-dads, we have enough trouble with the given equipment. Having to LEARN how to use an A/C control in a car is just counter-productive. It's obvious no street cops were consulted when considering designs. The driver seat should look like a cockpit, everything needs to be angled toward the driver, and within arm's reach, not sitting against or on the dashboard. A lot of the tech they brag about is available aftermarket. We already have license plate reading tech on some cars. We don't use video/dvr/audo recordings. FLIR? Worthless, we use LIGHTS when we work.
And just to qualify, my department has over 1500 officers, I'm a 10 year veteran, and drive an 07 Crown Vic.
@LandofMinos, I took the O out of Cuntry: As far as learning a/c controls, what I mean is if it is a touch screen control, you can't go by blind touch to adjust, you'll have to look at the screen. And as far as being discrete, it is very hard to be discrete in a huge 4 door car, with police decals all over it, and a light bar on top. If we need to be discrete, we either get out on foot, or we use undercover vehicles. FLIR would be worthless. I don't know why you would assume no video/dvr/audio would equal abuse of power, unless you just hate cops. I have never been equipped with any recording device, and have never had a valid complaint in 10 years.
It's almost ironic that the convicts are trying to sell cop cars to us. Guess people can be reformed huh? Just need to be on an island full of Kangaroos. And poisonous snakes. And poisonous spiders. And drive on the wrong side of the road.
NEW! Introducing "buttons you cannot press unless you're looking at them, which means taking your eyes off the road!"
Touchscreen controls Do. Not. Work. Not in a civilian car, not in a cop car. Novel idea, but unrealistic and dangerous.
Tactility(TM). Foolproof Control Since the Dawn of Man.
The Baltimore Police managed to fill up 200 brand-new Impala cruisers with DIESEL fuel because they had the little "flex-fuel" badges on the decklids.
If they can't figure out what their cars run on, how the fudge are they gonna figure this out, especially while performing PIT maneuvers with a Coolatta in one hand?
@bmoreDLJ: +1000 on controls which are a mystery unless you're looking at them.
I used to have an aftermarket in-dash radio which had -0- tactile feel. No knobs, no buttons, no nothing, just a display, so I was completely and totally reliant on the remote control.
It sucked when the remote fell between the seats and console, 'cause I'd have to pull over and fish it out.
Don't get me wrong, I dig on sat-nav and display screens for all kinds of ancillary info, but for all of the commonly-used items, HVAC/radio/stuff I can't think of right now, please allow them to be used/adjusted by feel.
BTW, my current car has knobs/buttons its aftermarket in-dash radio, but I still like using the remote. I know exactly where each button is in relation to each other and they're ultra-easy to find/manipulate.
/wishes for an analog rheostat for volume...'3' is too quiet yet '4' is too loud (or the like)
Edited by that ain't the way to have fun, son at 10/05/09 12:42 PM
that ain't the way to have fun, son was starred
that ain't the way to have fun, son was unstarred
Two things: 1.) It took until 2009 for cops to get that little laptop they always have mounted in the passenger seat integrated into the dash? Nice.
2.) While I'm skeptical that this thing is a major improvement, since they have a friggin' touchscreen for turning up the fan, I'm well convinced that thing is high-tech because of all the buttons!!
Also: Hi, Jalopnik! I'm from Gizmodo. Don't think I've been over here before. Nice to meet ya!
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Yeah, three cheeseburgers, two large fries, two chocolate shakes and one large coke.
And some flapjacks.
...
Too early for flapjacks?
10/05/09
Crown Vic: $$
Charger: $$$
Caprice: $$$$
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And just to qualify, my department has over 1500 officers, I'm a 10 year veteran, and drive an 07 Crown Vic.
10/05/09
What's to learn? On, off, temp & fan.
FLIR worthless? So visible light when you're trying to be discrete is better?
"We don't use video/dvr/audo recordings" That'll make abuse of power much easier now wouldn't it?
/Luddite Cop Bashing
10/06/09
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Don't mention the war, Bruce!
10/05/09
OK so when is Ford coming to the party? We need a Bathurst-US edition contest.
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AMERICA*, FUCK YEAH
*Australia, thank you
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Touchscreen controls Do. Not. Work. Not in a civilian car, not in a cop car. Novel idea, but unrealistic and dangerous.
Tactility(TM). Foolproof Control Since the Dawn of Man.
The Baltimore Police managed to fill up 200 brand-new Impala cruisers with DIESEL fuel because they had the little "flex-fuel" badges on the decklids.
If they can't figure out what their cars run on, how the fudge are they gonna figure this out, especially while performing PIT maneuvers with a Coolatta in one hand?
10/05/09
I used to have an aftermarket in-dash radio which had -0- tactile feel. No knobs, no buttons, no nothing, just a display, so I was completely and totally reliant on the remote control.
It sucked when the remote fell between the seats and console, 'cause I'd have to pull over and fish it out.
Don't get me wrong, I dig on sat-nav and display screens for all kinds of ancillary info, but for all of the commonly-used items, HVAC/radio/stuff I can't think of right now, please allow them to be used/adjusted by feel.
BTW, my current car has knobs/buttons its aftermarket in-dash radio, but I still like using the remote. I know exactly where each button is in relation to each other and they're ultra-easy to find/manipulate.
/wishes for an analog rheostat for volume...'3' is too quiet yet '4' is too loud (or the like)
10/05/09
2.) While I'm skeptical that this thing is a major improvement, since they have a friggin' touchscreen for turning up the fan, I'm well convinced that thing is high-tech because of all the buttons!!
Also: Hi, Jalopnik! I'm from Gizmodo. Don't think I've been over here before. Nice to meet ya!