Pull up a chair , practiced citizen , because I ’ve got a story about natural law enforcement and surveillance that you ’re really going to care . The Los Angeles Police Departmentis now using a novel telematics systemin 50 of its Ford Police Interceptors . In other words , the watchmen are being catch — in real - time .
The express purposes of the newfangled police car - trailing system , which Ford develop with the California - based software troupe Telogis , include both safety and foil . The technology know when an officer is speeding ( and by how much ) , when he ’s wearing his seatbelt , when he turns the lights on , when he brake suddenly , when he runs a red light , and so off . It even knows when the anti - lock brakes are engaged and when the railway car spins . So if a cop is driving recklessly , either in pursuit or just for the sport of it , his superiors will know about it while it ’s happening .
This is great newsworthiness ! Cops oftendrivelikeassholes . And it ’s life-threatening — not only for the police police officer themselves but also for everyone else on the road and the sidewalk . “ From a business concern standpoint , these are expensive vehicles with expensive employee driving them , ” Bryan Vila , a former ship’s officer in LA , toldWired . “ When they go down , they ’re also more likely to kill bystander and civilian , so there ’s a public safety machine side . I ’ve been wait forward to construe the LAPD implementing this . ”
Of course , installing this technology in just 50 LAPD cruisers wo n’t figure out the larger trouble of police abusing their power , but it ’s a adept starting time . It ’s also an encouraging development in the trend to keep an eye on law enforcement after decade of controversial incident when citizens establish themselves hurt by police instead of serve . You could search as far back as the Rodney King beating in Los Angeles ( and the riots that followed ) tothe recent shooting of Michael Brown Jr. in Ferguson , Missouri(and the riots that followed ) and realize that this problem is n’t fail to go away by itself .
Image via Ford
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