They lay down the law. And now that the Evansville Police Department has upgraded to 2013 Dodge Charger squad cars, many officers have laid down their pens and papers, too.
The new squad cars replace older models of the Crown Victoria and are outfitted with a variety of new technological perks, according to Paul Gelzleichter, fleet manager for the Evansville Police Department. For instance, officers have ready access to laptops just to the right of the steering wheel. These laptops give officers direct access to central dispatch through an intranet system only accessible to police officers and staff. The laptops contain information about warrants and arrest records, and they allow officers to quickly fill out speeding tickets that are then printed out on a printer underneath the center console.
The new logo consists of a blue stripe through the center of the word “Police” and is intended to relay the idea of the Thin Blue Line, a term for police forces, Gelzleichter says.
Some patrol cars have Digital Ally cameras that run through the rear view mirror in the front of the car. This is a video camera that stores memory on a flash card, which can be loaded onto a computer at the police department.
Additionally, the new Dodge Chargers have rumblers that are hooked up to the vehicle sirens. These rumblers emit sound and vibrate surrounding cars at a very low frequency, alerting drivers who may be distracted by their radios or phones.
“They are a safety issue for the public,” Gelzleichter says.
The new squad cars have a redesigned light bar. Instead of a simple I-shaped bar, the new light bar is in the shape of a V. This new design increases the visibility of the light bar, making it easier for people to see the flashing lights from several different angles.
“That’s the main thing that we shoot for, is to make everything as safe and reliable as we can, for the people and the police department,” Gelzleichter says.
