Filed under: Concept Cars, Government/Legal, Holden, Police/Emergency
Australian police testing super cruiser
The transformation from police cruiser to police destroyer is almost complete. Researchers at Australia's National Safety Agency, along with Holden, Motorola and the Monash University Accident Research Center, have created an Emergency Services Concept Car that is not your standard black-and-white.
They claim the development of the car was necessitated by overheating issues in current cruisers and adequate power management. Emergency services personnel had so much technology crammed into their vehicles that they needed a better way to keep things cool and in control. We guess that once they replaced most of the peripherals with one central, voice-activated computer, they realized all the other stuff they could stuff inside.
So they added a license-plate reading camera that can process 5,000 to 8,000 license plates in ten hours. There are three additional cameras to keep track of, well, everything. There's a device for police to be able to send messages over another vehicle's car stereo. And there's also an item called "Starcatch" that fires a GPS dart into a vehicle that the police want to follow. It's only a concept vehicle for now, but the Aussie authorities are showing interest.
[Source: Courier Mail via Jalopnik]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Taylor 4:36PM (1/02/2008)
I like Italy's police destroyer better.
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GO GM! 4:46PM (1/02/2008)
What would an Italian Police destoryer look like?
Taylor 4:51PM (1/02/2008)
Italy uses a Lambo. But I personally like the Charger police cruisers.
GT 5:47PM (1/02/2008)
true, but you can't escort any1 in a lambo...but wait, where's the overpowering monster of an engine? It can't be a supercruiser unless, well it can catch even the fastest cars, right? (how many schumachers you see racing down the hwy? Almost all of these are cases of the rich who forgot to buy common sense, they need to be caught)
Pete 4:37PM (1/02/2008)
We def need something like this here in the US.
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EJ25RUN 4:41PM (1/02/2008)
ahh no!
mikomi 4:40PM (1/02/2008)
The fact that it's using a Holden makes it awesome already.
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garlinski 5:04PM (1/02/2008)
It would make FOX News' California Police Chase hour (or two) very boring!!!
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fizzandpop 5:23PM (1/02/2008)
Wait! They have cops in Australia?
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Rob 5:43PM (1/02/2008)
Ya think the damn thing has enough cameras on it!
I think governments are going overboard with all the cameras they have keepin' a watchfull eye on us.
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MK 6:29PM (1/02/2008)
Not to mention that those license-plate cams are a violation of our civil rights. Police are only supposed to run the plates of suspected vehicles, or those used in a crime. They just keep chipping away...
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racer01 6:43PM (1/02/2008)
They need to paint one black with an "on demand" supercharger sticking out of the hood, black wheels and an exhaust that exits out the sides behind the front wheels.
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Nucbuddy 2:02AM (1/03/2008)
I'm with you, dude.
http://images.google.com/images?q=%22road+warrior%22
naif 9:06PM (1/02/2008)
right! is EJ25RUN and ROB@JAN
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mk 12:50AM (1/03/2008)
The last of the V8 interceptors, indeed.
Too bad it is about the opposite of a Ford Falcon coupe, its a GM sedan.
Keep in mind, this is Australian, and to gauge it by the US constitution isn't wholly appropriate. Although I do agree with the premise that it should only run plates by probable cause. That may or may not be australian law.
some of the cameras are to record police interaction with traffic stops, and others, as much for police protection as for the protection of the public.
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cdog 4:08PM (1/03/2008)
I've driven a Aussie police car (used to do tech support for Queensland Police) and you can barely get into it for all the radios and crap hanging off the dash. It actually felt as cramped as my MX-5 miata and the wiring loom was a nightmare. Even the boot was full of crap I had to transport my PC's and LCD's on the back seat.
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