EQUIPMENT
WITH THE SUPPLEMENT "SPECIAL"
Catch up and hold on
MIKHAIL GZOVSKY
Terrible voice: “Driver, take a right and stop!” - repeatedly strengthened; illuminating a dark street, beacons glisten. The intruder presses to the side of the road. And if not, if it increases speed? A car in law enforcement coloring is ready to immediately break loose and chase, chase a criminal … Much will depend on the driver, but the car should not fail.
In the United States, about 80% of police cars carry the Ford logo. Servants of order in the Russian capital also have such cars. The police version of Crown Victoria traditionally bears the name Interseptor. Its last modification is still from the category of concept cars, but it already opens up immediate prospects for American ministers and … violators of the law.
Cinema does not distort reality too much: almost every police car at least once in its lifetime participates in the persecution. So, one of the main criteria when choosing a car for the police is the power supply. The "heart" of the Interseptor is a 300-strong G8 with a volume of 4.6 liters. “The engine is basically the same that we put under the hoods of the usual Crown Victoria and Mustang GT,” explains Chris Theodor, chief designer of the new Ford development department, “but the modular design of the engine made it possible to add power to satisfy extremely rigid police requirements.”
In order not to lose strength during a jerk from a place or acceleration in a stream, the Interseptor itself turns off the air conditioner, which selects several necessary “horses”. The creators of the car are in no hurry to disclose the dynamic characteristics of the Ford, but according to unofficial data, a large heavy car accelerates to a hundred in less than 9 seconds. Suspension reinforced disc brakes, of course, "in a circle." The interior of a police car is easy to distinguish from a civilian one: rear windows cannot be opened from the rear seat, and there are no door handles.
“Crown Victoria Interseptor” is ready for “power tricks”. The place of the traditional front bumper was taken by a sturdy plastic-steel "ram" - they can run into an intruder, forcing them to surrender. But this is still the latest scenario. And before him - psychological pressure. On the roof of the car there is a block of flashing beacons, there is also a powerful siren. A pair of headlight seekers mounted on the exterior mirrors, and powerful full-time headlights duplicate strobe lights. No wonder wits called police cars "discos"!
Catching up and neutralizing the offender, of course, is the main thing, but often before that it is necessary to detect and figure him out in the crowd. In such cases, the crew of the "hunter", having set up an ambush somewhere in the heart of the Bronx late at night, will "shepherd" their target with the help of night-observation cameras broadcasting the image on the laptop monitor. After the detention, the video will be used as evidence.
Interseptor borrowed the Accident Data Recorder data collection system from motorsport, which is capable of transmitting real-time information about vehicle speed, angle of rotation, engine operation parameters and much more.
Extremely important and the communication capabilities of the car. Nissan Patrol GR / "> The patrol must know exactly its location and the location of the nearest police cars, as well as the intended route of the intruder. Due to the fact that the navigator is controlled by voice, the cop receives the necessary data without taking its hands off the steering wheel. There is also a multi-channel connection between cars: it operates within a radius of 3 km and allows several crews to talk at once.
It cannot be said that the designers are already testing a system that can remotely disable an intruder’s car. The compact unit creates a powerful stream of radio waves, and with the help of an antenna mounted on a police car, it “shoots” towards the intruder - “drives the electronics” controlling the engine and immobilizes the “victim”.
Not only in the United States, but also in Europe, sedans are often chosen to patrol cities, although not so large. In the States, they tried to adapt the Chevrolet Tahoe for these purposes, in Europe you can occasionally meet even the Lexus RX 300 or Mitsubishi Pajero, but this is still an exception to the rule: “All-terrain vehicles are too high and stand out from the stream, and this is not always it is necessary”, - law enforcement officers consider.
Another thing is service at the airports. Gatwick's English port police, through which a flow of 31 million passengers annually pass, have opted for the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 413 CDI. His crew of six combines the duties of policemen and firefighters, in the cabin - the appropriate equipment. Since drugs are a sore point for any large airport, several sprinters have specially adapted for dog handlers with dogs.
A special task is the disposal of explosives. General Motors has developed a unique mobile laboratory specifically for the Michigan State Police on the basis of GMC TopKick. The equipment hidden in it behind steel walls and tinted glass allows us to identify conventional, chemical, biological and, even, nuclear weapons, as well as to find the most effective protection against everyone. The mass of the car is almost 9 tons, so the laboratory only has enough of a 6.6-liter Dyuramaks diesel engine.
The traffic police elite are units serving highways. Here they use, for example, the almost rally "Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution /"> Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. " And how do you order to catch a bully behind the wheel of a Ferrari Maranello, if there is a lot of autobahn in front of him? At the Lamborghini Gallardo! The company gave the Italian police such a car. I wonder how they selected a policeman who was entrusted with driving a 500-horsepower car for one and a half thousand euros?
