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Collector Zone _ Everything Else _ City unveils high-tech cop car

Posted by: milomg Feb 12 2006, 09:58 AM

KHarman - would like to have this new toy?

City unveils high-tech cop car

By Gary Washburn
Tribune staff reporter
Published February 9, 2006, 3:13 PM CST

A high-tech law enforcement SUV equipped to scan the license plates of up to 3,600 vehicles an hour, spot suspects lurking in the dark and transmit data wirelessly at high speeds was unveiled today at a Southwest Side police station.

The Chicago Police Department will put the Chevrolet Tahoe and four other concept vehicles like it through evaluations and field tests before deciding whether to order more.

But Mayor Richard M. Daley said at a news conference at the Chicago Lawn District police station, 3420 W. 63rd St., that something like them someday would be standard equipment for city law enforcement.

"This eventually will be the police car of the future," Daley said. "Every car will be like this."

The police Tahoe costs $85,000, officials said. The manufacturer's suggested retail price for a base model of a conventional Tahoe, by way of comparison, is about $34,000.

The model displayed to the media today has been assigned to the Harrison District. But for the next few days, it will be on display at the Chicago Auto Show, which opens Friday and runs through Feb. 19 at McCormick Place.

The vehicle has a pair of roof-mounted cameras that can scan the license plates of up to 3,600 parked and moving vehicles an hour, officials said. Plate numbers are fed into a computer, which checks for vehicles reported stolen, boot-eligible or wanted in connection with outstanding warrants or Amber Alerts.

The Tahoe also comes with a thermal-imaging night-vision camera, a video camera to record traffic stops and two high-speed, portable data terminals and a retractable work desk in the rear seat.

Just Sharing. Drive carefully.
Milo

Posted by: KHarmon Feb 12 2006, 12:06 PM

I've driven a Tahoe police package in the past....I had one for my assigned patrol unit in Lamesa for four years......they're OK....but the type of driving that you do in a large city isn't what those vehicles were designed for....and they stink as pursuit vehicles in town because of all the cornering that generally happens in a pursuit.

As far as the technology goes.......they're trying to design a system that works here in Texas that will read a bar code on passing vehicles to read their registration sticker number to check it for expiration and whether or not the vehicle has been reported stolen. We'll see how it works....but something tells me that by the time the computer relays this information to the user in the patrol car the suspect vehicle will be LONG out of site....especially if they're relying on the DMV databases to send you this information. I love the technology....but the police field is going techno crazy right now......the only worth while thing that has come out and become popular in the last few years is the Taser....which is an AWESOME and effective tool and something my agency won't invest in. I'm interested to see how Chi-towns experiment goes with these.

Another cool toy to play with is car mounted FLIR (forward looking infra-red) cameras.....those are outstanding tools to find suspects who are running or someone who is lurking where they're not supposed to be. Another $15,000 piece of technology I'll never see with this agency.

Posted by: randallcards Feb 12 2006, 12:21 PM

nice