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Police Fleet Expo

Written by PFM Staff

A total of 450 attendees and 130 exhibits made the fourth Police Fleet Expo the largest event of its kind anywhere. From the insider presentations by “the Big Three” vehicle manufacturers to more than a dozen police fleet relevant educational sessions, the PFE in Louisville was the place to be for fleet managers. The text outlines and bullet points for each session are online at www.policefleetexpo.com. And the hands-on Pursuit Garage? That was new for the 2007 conference. At the Pursuit Garage, seven different upfitters each presented the solutions they provide.

The conference was opened by Major Ed Burgin with the Louisville Metro Police Department. The LMPD has 1,400 vehicles in its fleet, and it was the host for this event, thanks to LMPD Chief Robert White.

Agency Dialogue

The first educational session was the Agency Dialogue, divided into 1) Small Agency (up to 50 vehicles), 2) Large Agency and Sheriff / County Police and 3) State Police, Highway Patrol and Federal Agency. Sort of a structured networking, each group openly discussed 14 different aspects of the vehicle one area at a time, and one car make at a time. These areas were battery and alternator, body and interior, brakes, HVAC, driveline and axle, electrical, engine, exhaust and catalytic converters, fuel system, general info (warranty, TSBs), restraints and airbags, steering, suspension, and transaxle or transmission. First, Chevrolet Impala and Tahoe, then Dodge Charger, Magnum, Durango and Ram, then Ford CVPI, Explorer and Expedition.

This was the meeting where fleet managers from departments of similar sizes heard that others were having exactly the same problems as they were. Or they heard that no one else who uses the cars like they do had the same problem. Either way, it was meaningful.

Small Agency

One department requested that a key cylinder be put back on the Chevy Impala trunk. Come to find out that most fleet managers in the session wanted the same thing. (Chevrolet later announced that the trunk key lock would be standard on the 9C1 and 9C3 Impala for 2009.) One department indicated the 150-amp Densole alternator on the Impala was not keeping up with the amp load of their emergency equipment. Not a single other fleet manager in a room of 200 had the same problem.

One department mentioned a delay when shifting between drive and reverse in the Dodge Charger. Everyone in the room who had driven a Charger agreed. (Dodge Fleet would later explain this was a part of the software designed to protect the drivetrain from sudden changes and forces and agreed to try to reduce the delay by 25% to 50%.) One department mentioned short front pad life, dust and noise from the Dodge Charger. Again, every head nodded. (Dodge Fleet would later discuss brand new for 2008 front brake pads, developed in conjunction with the North Carolina Highway Patrol.)

One department mentioned rim damage on the lower profile 17-inch CVPI wheels during patrol use. No one else had the problem. However, when lighting control module problems were mentioned, lots of fleet managers joined in. (Ford is working on this problem now.) When high steering effort after a sudden deceleration on the 2006 CVPI was mentioned, many fleet managers voiced a similar experience. (Ford introduced TSB 06-25-03 to cover this.)

And so these three concurrent sessions went, area by area, car by car, and fully open to comments, complaints, suggestions and discussion from anyone. In all of this, the final advice is to find the fleet service rep in your area, and let that person do the hard work. Don’t argue with the local dealers. They either don’t know what is going on (police vehicles are a special niche) or they really do not have the authority to fix the problem or extend the warranty. Don’t stop with the dealer. Pass the issue on to the factory’s rep. Every single one of them was at the PFE!

Large Agency and County

One of the widespread concerns to come out of this session was the lack of key cylinders on the passenger-side doors of many police vehicles. This is an important safety issue for officers who may need to quickly enter the vehicle on the passenger side to avoid danger. Attendees described this as a “huge issue” and a “major problem.” Many agencies whose officers share vehicles don’t issue key fobs to each officer, so the officer has to go around the other side of the vehicle to enter with a regular key.

Another common issue was trunk entry. A show of hands demonstrated that many agencies would like to have the trunk pop open only when the key is in the ignition. This is especially important for officers who may carry firearms or other gear in the trunk that should not get into the wrong hands. Currently on some vehicles, the trunk will pop open from the inside, so conceivably, someone could break the window, pop the trunk and steal the gear within.

The moderators of the session made note of these and other issues in order to bring them up directly to the vehicle manufacturers.

Dodge Charger

Chrysler Corporation kicked of the Vehicle Manufacturer’s sessions. The lifetime powertrain warranty announced in August 2007 applies only to retail vehicles and not (yet) to government and fleet vehicles. Just a reminder: Both 5 year / 60K miles and 5 year / 100K miles extended warranties are available.

Delivery of Charger police vehicles has been an issue because of fluctuations in retail Charger sales. When retail production is slowed due to light demand—which affects police vehicle production—even though a heavy backlog for police Chargers exists. To resolve this, the plant is now giving a six-week notice of production line changes. And, the Vehicle Completion Center, which is the final upfit station for all police vehicles, has been bumped up to two shifts.

For 2008, the Tire Pressure Monitoring System is standard on all Dodge police vehicles. A side-curtain airbag, which comes with a seat-mounted side airbag, is optional. All 2008 retail and special service cars from Chrysler will have a new “snub key” instead of a traditional key. However, a traditional fob and key will be provided on police package vehicles. The 2008 Magnum will get a restyled front fascia and be in production by early October.

For 2008, both engine idle hours and total operating hours will be displayed. Also for 2008, the key fob will open the trunk at all times, regardless of ignition status. A street appearance package will be available for the police Charger. This will have 18-inch alloy wheels, chrome trim and fog lights, and SXT emblems. The 18-inch wheels have passed Chrysler’s police durability testing.

As an option, the 5.7L HEMI®-powered cars will be top speed limited to 129 mph. Unrestricted, the HEMI Charger runs 145 mph. The new Chargers have stronger trunk lid struts to hold the lid open when a shotgun, Stop Sticks or emergency lights have been mounted. The A/C at idle has also been improved.

For 2008, Chrysler’s stability control program, called Electronic Stability Program (ESP), will not be able to be fully switched off. The police version will have a two-mode switch, i.e., the fully on retail setting and the 70% on police performance setting. The use of stability control will reduce single vehicle crashes by 35%.

Brakes. When Dodge developed the brakes for the police Charger, it had one goal: outperform every other police vehicle, period. And the Charger did in all the police department tests. However, the pads were so aggressive, pad wear and accelerated caliper wear became an issue. For the late-2007 models, the pads were backed off just slightly to the Charger Daytona R/T level. A slightly revised caliper now pushes the pad away from the rotor farther to prevent contact when the brakes are not in use.

The new brake pads were developed in conjunction with the North Carolina Highway Patrol. With 200 Chargers, the NCHP has the nation’s largest fleet of Chargers. Even aggressively driven, the NCHP is now getting 18,000 miles on a set of front pads, up from 5,000 miles. And the new brake pads “meet the expectations for braking” from the NCHP troopers.

Dodge is sticking by its requirement that the brakes be “burnished” on brand new police vehicles through a specific sequence of stops from certain speeds. While 50% of brake burnishing is done in the first few hundred miles of normal driving, the first few steps are critical. The new Charger OE brakes carry a 12-month / 12K mile warranty. Remember this when you select replacement brake pads.

How about a police package version of the new Dodge Challenger? The official status from Chrysler Corp. has changed from “no” to “not yet.” How cool is that!?

Tahoe and Impala

The Chevy Tahoe and Impala are both carryovers for 2008, each with only minor changes. Roof-rail (side-curtain) airbags are optional on both vehicles. To meet pending FMVSS standards, these airbags will be standard for 2009. Changes in upfitting were required when front airbags were introduced in the 1990s. So it is with side airbags. Setina is the market leader in compatibility testing with roof-rail airbags and prisoner partitions. The rule for the future: cuff before you stuff.

For 2008, the 3.9L V-6 on the police Impala is E85-compatible. The Tahoe has been so for years. For 2008, a key cylinder for the trunk will be standard on the 9C1 and 9C3 Impalas. The passenger side door, however, will remain key-fob operated. For 2008, the Chevy Suburban is available with special service (fleet) upfitting. The corporate-wide powertrain warranty, including police vehicles, is 5 years / 100K miles.

As for FAQs, after being out of production for more than a decade, fleet managers have almost stopping asking when the LT-1Caprice is coming back. The new questions, is, when will a pursuit-rated 4x4 be available? (The 4x4 Tahoe is special service only, and the pursuit-capable Tahoe is only 2WD.) At this time, General Motors has no plans for a pursuit-rated 4x4.

Ford Fleet

Ford began its vehicle manufacturer session with an answer to the most FAQ. The Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, as we know it today, will remain in production through the 2010 model year. That is, the CVPI will be made as a 2008, 2009 and 2010 model, virtually unchanged.

What then? Will production of today’s CVPI be extended a few more years? Will another RWD platform under Ford’s global umbrella be tapped for the police job? Will another vehicle from today’s retail lineup be developed into a police package, pursuit-rated sedan? No one knows. Or, the maybe 10 people in the whole world who do know, are keeping very quiet. For 2008, the Ford CVPI is now E85 compatible. The E85-powered CVPI and the gasoline-powered CVPI have the same performance. On E85, the CVPI gets between 15% and 20% less fuel mileage, but depending on region, E85 costs 10% to 15% less than gasoline.

For 2008, Ford Fleet has increased the oil change interval for severe service vehicles (police cars) from every 3,000 miles to every 5,000 miles. On admin vehicles, it has been bumped from 5,000 miles to 7,500 miles.

For 2008, Ford changed the power steering logic from vehicle-speed sensitive to engine-speed sensitive. This produces the same amount of assist at highway speeds but less assist at urban speeds. The apparent loss of assist (after hard braking from highway speed followed by a full turn of the steering wheel) has been solved by a higher volume power steering pump. Affecting the 2006 model, this was Technical Service Bulletin 06-23-5.

The 2008 Explorer is a carryover as is the 2008 Expedition with one exception. Roll Stability Control, standard on the Explorer, is now standard on the Expedition. For 2008, Ford introduced a low trim level (XL Trim) version of its F-150 Super Crew. And the special service Escape Hybrid is seeing increased use for many light duty and urban police tasks.

Police Graphics Design Contest

As a way to draw attention to the annual LAW and ORDER vehicle graphics design contest, four officers from the winning agencies were flown to the PFE and provided lodging and a full conference pass. This included the Grand Prize winner from Coburg, OR; the First Place in municipal agencies under 50 officers from Hummelstown, PA; the First Place in municipal agencies over 50 officers from Greece (Rochester), NY; and the First Place in sheriff’s departments from Franklin County, VA. In addition, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Impala was on display in the Exhibit Hall.

The First Place plaques were awarded during the opening reception. Hendon Publishing plans to do all this again for next year’s contest winners. Entry forms will be accepted starting March 2008. See www.pfmmag.com and click on Contests for both the entry form and the judging guidelines.

Exhibits

For 10 hours over two days, the attendees had a chance to tour the exhibits. All the automakers were on hand. Each had all its police package and special service package vehicles on the show floor. Just as important, each had all its national and regional sales and tech staff on hand.

Every major lightbar manufacturer had a booth full of LED solutions. Same for push bumpers, prisoner partitions, radar units, computer mounts, gun racks, sirens and brake components. From fleet management software to upfitting service, literally everything for the police fleet vehicle was in the exhibit hall.

Pursuit Garage

The Pursuit Garage was new for 2007. This was a chance to see upfitting in a bit more detail, and in a few cases, it presented real hands-on opportunities. This was all about informal questions and answers. Patrol Power (Jotto Desk) representatives started with a length of their custom plug and play wiring harness and a Ford CVPI. They covered all of the wire pulling steps from plugging into the fuse box under the hood, to dressing it properly under the kick panel near the passenger’s seat.

Crown Industries (Leggett & Platt) reps did a walk and talk around a Ford CVPI upfitted with their “Ready for the Road” prep package. Crown is the factory-based upfitter from Ford with facilities 5 miles from the St. Thomas assembly plant. Each aspect of the Ready for the Road upfit was discussed. Other prep packages are also available. The Covert Ballistic Door Panel installed by Crown as a factory option was also on display and much discussed.

MNStar Technologies (MNStar Enforcer Systems) had four huge display boards with its universal plug and play wiring harnesses and schematics. The company makes these harnesses for all police and emergency vehicles from Ford, Chevrolet and Dodge. Everything is in common. Troubleshooting is a snap, even with vehicles deployed to various commands or precincts. A Ford CVPI was on display upfitted with the MNStar harness for all to see and touch.

Adamson Industries had an in-depth and non-stop video playing that showed the detail of the company’s extensive upfitting capabilities. Staffers were on site to answer specific questions about upfitting, costing options and delivery schedules.

Kerr Industries is the Chevrolet factory upfitter. It had both a Tahoe and an Impala on display, both with hoods and trunks up and all doors open. Both cars share the same basic wiring bus, and both can be upfitted in the same way. Kerr officials were on hand to explain each aspect of the various wire schematics, one for the overall wiring, one for the forward lamp harness and one for the 12-volt battery supply.

Canfield Equipment Service is the factory upfitter for Chrysler Corp.’s Dodge Charger, Dodge Magnum and other SUVs and pickups. Canfield reps did a detailed walk and talk around one of their upfitted Chargers. Every aspect of their Ready for the Road package was covered, including mounting gear behind the front fascia. Most important, they explained in detail the relocated, tray-mounted, full-size spare and the trunk-tray mounted electronics packages. This is one of the very best solutions for departments that want a full-size spare, but also want to make the most of the smallish Charger trunk.
Samson Lift Technologies conducted ongoing demonstrations of its unique “Samson” Side Loading Vehicle Retriever. With the Side Loader, the vehicles are lifted only by their tires, even if flat, eliminating towing damage. The operator never has to enter the vehicle, eliminating break-in damage. And, parallel-parked cars can be easily towed.

Decision Making and the Business Case

Ford’s Michael Blackmer and Chevy’s Bruce Wiley opened the general educational sessions with a presentation on the automakers process used to make decisions. What changes should be made to the police car? What should be standard equipment? What should be an option?
This was probably the most important educational session of the entire conference. It answered many of the fleet manager’s questions. What does “business case” mean? Why can’t they put “this” feature on police cars? Why do changes take so long for car companies to make?

Is a business case just an excuse not to do something that fleet managers want? No. Instead, it is an internal study that answers three simple questions. What will the change or new feature cost? How many will be sold, i.e., the take-rate? Will the company sell enough to make money? That is, get their money back from the upfront investment in design, prototype development, production tooling, final testing, increased assembly plant complexity, not counting the cost of the part and the labor to install it.

In fact, the direct material cost of the past and the direct labor cost to install it are the least costly aspects in the business case. Most of the expense and time is in the design of the product, tooling for the product (often 26 to 40 weeks for production tooling and $100K or more for a simple progressive die or injection mold) the Product Part Approval Process for automotive parts and FVMSS testing and compliance.

Automakers live and die by volume. They depend on mass production and high volumes. For low volumes and niche products, go to the aftermarket. And police cars are already low volume! Ford sells 50,000 police CVPIs, Chevy sells 15,000 police Impalas, and Dodge sells 5,000 police Chargers. Even if the new idea is used on every police car, the volumes are tiny.

Of course, what is the take-rate? And what does it cost? Are they tied together. When one goes up, the other goes down. And when the business climate requires the investment to have a payback period of one to two years, the cost of the new product or feature becomes pretty expensive. All of this is further complicated by the fragmented police market, with around 18,000 different police departments and about that many different needs.

The case in point was a molded plastic rear seat for the CVPI. The take-rate was estimated at about 20,000 units. A basic seat was partially designed to be installed in the 45 seconds allowed by the assembly plant. Then the different needs of the different departments were factored in. Some wanted three-person capacity, some two-person. Some wanted blue plastic, some camel, and some black. In the end, it turned out to be too many different seats for the volume, 2,000 of this and 3,000 of that.

In the auto industry, the take-rate for any product or feature needs to be about 10,000 units. That means 20% of all CVPI buyers want it, 66% of all police Impalas get it and every police Charger. The change, product or feature has to be more than a good idea that will be used for most police cars not just a few.

The total cost is divided by volume to determine the payback period. This cost includes the cost of design, the cost of prototype and production tooling, the labor to install the part or feature, the testing to verify its compliance with function and federal standards and finally, the cost of the part itself. This is why it helps if the product is compatible with the retail market and it hurts if the retail market doesn’t want or need it, i.e., passenger side key cylinder.

In the final analysis, these good ideas still count, and most can still be incorporated into police cars. The installation, however, will come through Crown Industries (Ford), Kerr (Chevy) or Canfield Equipment (Dodge) and not the automaker.

Consultant Vs. Fleet Manager

Next, Les Rucker from Maximus Consulting and Bill DeRousse from the city of Everett, WA squared off to prove a point. Most of the time consultants and fleet managers agree, but sometimes they don’t. This was not so much a duel as it was a dual presentation from two very different perspectives.

The first advice from DeRousse was to get up to speed on terms, trends and technologies. Some examples are stability control, Bluetooth, nitrogen for tires, carbon footprint, hydrogen fuel cells, greening the fleet, two-mode hybrid, E85, bio-fuel, mild hybrid, full hybrid. It doesn’t matter if you agree or disagree with each of these fleet topics, you must be knowledgeable on the topic.

The next advice was to document everything you can and be as specific as possible by vehicle or vehicle type. You cannot manage what you do not measure or track. Examples of what to track by vehicle type include suitability for the fleet, i.e., utilization rates; availability, i.e., downtime and turnaround time; reliability, i.e., the number of miles or hours between breakdowns; safety, i.e., the crash rates per 100K miles; economy, i.e., cost per mile of fuel, oil, brakes and tires; environmental friendliness, i.e., the miles or hours per gallon of fuel and the percent of the fleet using hybrids or alternate fuel; finally, the percent satisfaction of their end users, i.e., is the chief of the patrol division and the chief of the detective bureau satisfied?

Replacement cycles are always controversial, but the facts are that vehicles are built better today than in the past. They are more reliable and have longer periods of time before scheduled service. Spark plugs, for example, used to be replaced every 15,000 miles. They now last 100,000 miles. So the advice is to switch from a replacement cycle based on years, and use strictly mileage. And bump the mileage up from 100,000 to at least 125,000 before retirement. And, older vehicles, if properly maintained do NOT cost more as they get older.

On these last two points, the fleet manager and the consultant differed sharply. Rucker insists the time to trade the vehicle is right before the first major repair expense. A major expense is a rebuilt engine, trans or axle. Careful fleet records will show you where that is for each model of police vehicle. He also insists that older police cars are more expensive to maintain, i.e., the total cost of ownership declines, then flattens, then rises with either time or use. His research suggests a maximum age of 4 years. Beyond that, the repairs get more expensive as does the volatility between minor repairs and major repairs.

The consultant, however, echoed the fleet manager. You must know the operating costs (gas, oil, tires, brakes) and the major maintenance costs PER VEHICLE. You can’t manage what you do not measure.

A solid preventative maintenance program is the foundation of fleet management. You must track when PM is needed, by vehicle. And you must have a fast and reliable way to notify the officer at the end of the PM interval.

Emergency Preparedness

During this session, a follow-up to the one held at the 2006 Police Fleet Expo, the presenters discussed the destruction, action and recovery of Hurricane Katrina. Angela Copple, the national coordinator of Emergency Management Assistance Compact told how EMAC facilitated the deployment of 6,880 sheriff’s deputies and police officers from 35 states to Louisiana and Mississippi.

Copple talked about the ins and outs of the reimbursement program and the common problems associated with it. She said if agencies have general pre-event cost estimations, it will greatly speed up the approval process when time is of the essence during critical incidents.

Copple also reminded agencies to critique the situation afterwards in order to learn valuable lessons for next time.

One of the lessons Sergeant David Callery of the New York State Police learned from his experience during Katrina was that you need to have an exit strategy. The New York State Police deployed 100 troopers and 54 vehicles to Louisiana and Mississippi, which took some serious planning. He said agencies should decide ahead of time what unused equipment is worth hauling back and what is better left at the site.

He said that taking care of maintenance issues before they sent the vehicles was crucial to their success because shops, mechanics and parts were scarce after the hurricane.

Lieutenant Robert Montgomery of the city of Duluth, GA Police Department was one of the many officers who took on the recovery mission, knowing that the resources would be scarce and the accommodations less than comfortable. He recommended that agencies be self-sufficient. He said they should send all the food, water, equipment and supplies their officers would need in order to not be a burden to the people they are trying to help.

With moving slide presentations and videos that brought tears to some attendees’ eyes, all three speakers shared obstacles, gave insight, and provided practical advice that officers and agencies could use to help prepare themselves in the event of such a catastrophe.

New Directions in the Bid Process

According to Peter Langlois of BidBridge LLC, the reverse auction isn’t ideal for every situation, but if used appropriately, it could save your agency time and money. The main problem many people have in getting started using the reverse auction is just that it is different than the paper bid, which has been used for decades. Langlois said reverse auctions require more thought than paper bids, but they don’t require more time. “Is it difficult? No. Is it different? Yes,” he said.

The reverse auction is used to drive prices with the suppliers, and it is an exceptional tool at finding the market value of a product, he said.

When setting up a reverse auction, he recommended using performance specs instead of manufacturer specs and telling the suppliers exactly what is important to you.

Fleet Management Software

Les Rucker, the national director of Fleet Management Consulting, Maximus Inc., said one of the best ways to find out whether a fleet management system is right for you is to ask some other agencies using that system. Getting these references gives your agency more opinions than just that of the salesperson, and it could make or break your decision.

When you go to choose software, ask yourself what data is needed, Rucker said. Decide what accounting and financial information you want the system to store, organize and analyze. Getting a system that tracks operator complaints and automatically sends notices for preventative maintenance is highly recommended. The ability to look at maintenance history and manage recalls is also extremely helpful, Rucker said.

Having as much information possible in the system will help, but only if it is able to be managed and analyzed easily. The fleet management software shouldn’t be just like an electronic filing cabinet, he said; it should be able to create reports based on specific categories or data.

However, as helpful as theses systems may be, Rucker warned to not depend solely on them—have a contingency plan in case of a power failure.

Police Tires

Rod Hutchinson from Bridgestone-Firestone and Rick Wendt from Goodyear squared off to talk tires. For his part, Hutchinson introduced the Firestone FireHawk GT Pursuit for the Ford CVPI. This purpose-built, police-specific, 17-inch tire has passed the Los Angeles County Sheriff tire tests. The LASD tests are both an objective completion of a 60-mile simulated pursuit on a flat road course, and a subjective evaluation of the tire’s handling performance during the run.

Both tire guys stressed that a purpose-built police tire like the FireHawk Pursuit and the Eagle RS-A have additional components in the tire and unique rubber compounds compared to retail tires. A police tire is extremely complex, with more than a dozen different components, all of which affect performance. The police tire is more durable under extreme conditions than even a retail ultra-high performance tire.

Temperature kills tires. Under-inflation raises tire temps. This makes air pressure the key to both performance and tire wear. Under-inflation causes both heat and belt separation and is the number one cause of tire failure. The tire maker sets the maximum tire pressure, which is 44 psi on the Goodyear Eagle RS-A. However, the automaker sets the operating tire pressure, which is 35 psi on the Ford CVPI.

How important is tire pressure on a pursuit-capable police vehicle? “Check the pressure at the beginning of every shift,” Wendt advised. You will need a tire pressure gauge. Today’s low profile 17-inch tires with stiff sidewalls can be under-inflated by 10 psi and still look fully inflated. “If you don’t actually measure the pressure, at least do a careful walk-round.”

The two companies have very different policies on the use of repaired pursuit tires. Goodyear has a very specific repair procedure involving careful inspection of the carcass and proper materials like the patch-plug. If these procedures are followed, and the puncture is less than ¼-inch, the puncture is in the tread (not shoulder, not sidewall), and the tire is only repaired once, it will maintain its speed rating.

Bridgestone-Firestone has a very different policy. And this one is the same policy of major police departments like the California Highway Patrol, Michigan State Police and Los Angeles County Sheriff: repaired tires cannot be put back on pursuit-capable vehicles. Their speed rating defaults to a Q-rating (99 mph).

A flat tire is extremely hard on the interior carcass components. While the tread puncture is easy to find and fix, internal damage is hard to detect and impossible to fix. In fact, operating the vehicle with the tire as little as 25% under inflated (less than 26 psi) causes internal damage according to Bridgestone.

The session concluded with three tech tips. First, asymmetric tread tires like the Eagle RS-A and FireHawk Pursuit MUST be rotated frequently. When you change oil, rotate the tires. Second, when you put just two new tires on a car, put them on the rear. Under slippery conditions, better tires on the rear prevent oversteer, even in FWD cars.

Third, “match-mount” new tires by mounting the colored dot on the tire next to the valve stem of the wheel. That way the high point of the slightly out of round tire will match the low point of the slightly out of round wheel. (Right. No one at the session had heard of that either! That is why you come to the PFE!)

The Ultimate Lightbar

Lieutenant Jim Wells with the Florida Highway Patrol wrapped up the conference by explaining the department’s unique lightbar. This was developed by the FHP based on the Arizona-Ford Blue Ribbon Panel findings with high-energy rear crashes involving the Ford CVPI. The lightbar and siren were developed with input from Federal Signal, Whelen Engineering and Code 3 PSE.

The FHP goal was to use the lightbar to send two very different signals to motorists. This was accompanied by an educational program to explain it. The first setting has all kinds of lights activated in a very fast pattern. This “urgent” mode is for when the police vehicle is in motion, either on an emergency run or while attempting to stop a vehicle. The urgent mode uses fast flash rates and lots of motion in the flash pattern.

The second setting has a slower light pattern and flash rate. This “calm” mode is for when the police vehicle is stopped. The lights on all four corners of the car are activated so the motorist can see the car at night. However, the lightbar is much more in tick-tock mode so the motorist can see the amber directional stick.

The FHP lightbar also uses a photocell to change the colors of the emergency lights. During the day, the bar uses predominantly red LEDs, since red shows up better than blue in sunlight. During the night, the bar uses mostly blue LEDs, since blue shows up better at night and blue is a better contrast to red taillights at night.

Amber means, “I am stopped.” The amber arrow stick is mounted on the deck, separate from the lightbar to send a separate (information) message from the red / blue (warning) lights. The amber lights to the rear are normally shut off when the police car is in motion. The trooper can override this for special details like escorts. The FHP uses wig-wags on lightbar-equipped cars but does not use grille lights and does not use corner strobes.

The FHP system also includes a low-frequency siren in addition to the standard siren. The low frequency penetrates better and raises awareness sooner. Then the standard wail / yelp siren further identifies the emergency vehicle.

The trooper can override the photocell when smoke or fog makes it think it is dark and time to use blue lights. The red color penetrates smoke and fog better than blue. Finally, the trooper can cut off light to the front. Otherwise, the trooper just turns the lightbar “on.” The colors are determined by the amount of ambient light and the flash rate is determined by whether the gear selector is in park.

Mark your calendar for next year. The PFE will be Aug. 20-23, 2008 in Milwaukee, WI. Activities with Harley-Davidson are being planned as is a Ride & Drive and an Upfitter’s Challenge.

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