Autoblog

Ford Falcon GT becomes Australia's most powerful police car ever

Zach Bowman — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 12:32:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Sedan, Performance, Government/Legal, Ford, Police/Emergency, Australia

The highway patrol in New South Wales, Australia has a new toy. As part of a community outreach program, it has added a Ford Falcon GT to its stable of pursuit vehicles. Though the car has been fitted with the lights, radio and speed-monitoring tech of its more common cruisers, officers intend use the car more to reach out to young motorsports fans than to run down baddies. So far, it seems to be working. Police took the sedan to the Sydney Dragway at Eastern Creek, and the supercharged Falcon GT had no problem drawing a crowd.

As you may recall, the Falcon GT is the most powerful vehicle to ever roll out of Ford Australia. The four-door boasts 450 horsepower from the factory, though the pursuit model makes closer to 536 hp thanks to tweaks like a new fuel map and free-flowing exhaust. Throw in all of the law-enforcement tech, and this car has a final price tag of over $105,000 at current conversion rates.

Ford Falcon GT becomes Australia's most powerful police car ever originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 25 Nov 2012 12:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Australian police hope to attract stares with Alfa MiTo cruiser

Noah Joseph — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 15:35:00 EST

Filed under: Hatchback, Alfa Romeo, Police/Emergency, Australia

NSW Police-spec Alfa Romeo MiTo - Click above for high-res image gallery

If your aim in choosing a new car is to get noticed, there's no shortage of attention-grabbing wheels to pick from, but few cars get noticed as quickly as a police cruiser. Sure, the flashing lights and blaring sirens might help, but not as much as the looming threat of being ticketed. Still, Australia's New South Wales police department seems to think it needs some help getting noticed.

That's precisely why Sydney-area law enforcement has taken delivery of an Alfa Romeo MiTo. Noticeably bereft of emergency lighting, the MiTo will be used for community outreach and safety awareness programs. Whether the wee Alfa will prove more effective in its assignment than a Hummer H3 or Holden Commodore remains to be seen, but it might help the authorities catch up with the next F1 champion who tries spinning donuts on city streets.

Gallery: Australian Police Alfa Romeo MiTo

[Source: Car Advice via eurocarblog]

Australian police hope to attract stares with Alfa MiTo cruiser originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 05 Jun 2010 15:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Aussie police begin using facial recognition tech to track scofflaw motorists

Jonathon Ramsey — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 09:01:00 EST

Filed under: Government/Legal, Technology, Australia

The Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) is taking steps to eliminate the possibility of drivers who have had their licenses successfully applying for another one. The state's Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) will be using facial recognition software to build a database of license holders.

According to Australia's Drive, the software won't minutely scan your face like something out of The Matrix - it will only will take measurements of the distances between one's eyes, nose and mouth. When someone applies for a license, his or her measurements will be compared to the others in the database, and if there's a "high probability match" there will be an alert.

The technology will also be used for people applying for photo cards. However, the price of a license or photo card will not be raised even though the citizenry will be being watched much more closely. The plan is that the new procedures will help reduce the $3.5 billion Australian ($3.25B U.S.) the country has to spend every year combating identity fraud.

[Source: Drive.com.au | Image: Ian Walde/Getty]

Report: Aussie police begin using facial recognition tech to track scofflaw motorists originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 14 Jan 2010 09:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lotus donates Exige to Aussie police department

Alex Nunez — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 11:31:00 EST

Filed under: Performance, Etc., Lotus

Click image for photo gallery

Lotus cars has donated a brand-new Exige to the Bankstown, NSW police force. The six-month loan gives the local constabulary a head-turner that it plans to leverage in community policing projects, particularly with regard to reaching out to local youths and car enthusiasts. The thinking is that the Exige will be an instant conversation-starter with both groups, and that, in turn, will enhance the police department's credibility with them.

The Lotus sports full police markings and a removable light bar that'll be used when it's on duty helping out with things like DUI checkpoints and radar duty (nice pursuit vehicle, guys). Lotus decided to donate the ride after seeing success with a similar collaboration it had with the Norfolk police in the UK. Here you have a police car that's capable of putting smiles on the faces of both the officers behind the wheel and the local citizenry. Well, maybe not all of them -- Lotus or not, if you're getting pulled over by the the Bankstown PD's new corner carver, odds are you're not in a smiling mood.

Full press release after the jump.

[Source: Lotus]

Gallery: Lotus Exige police car

Continue reading Lotus donates Exige to Aussie police department

Lotus donates Exige to Aussie police department originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 16 Feb 2007 11:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Australian speeders caught dead handed

Frank Filipponio — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 15:31:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Government/Legal

Australian police are investigating 240 people who have blamed a dead man for driving their cars when they were cited for traffic violations. Officials think this is part of a widespread pattern of fraud wherein motorists are blaming the same dead guy or somebody from out of state to try to get out of fines.

"These offences amount to fraud and, if proven, those involved could face stiff penalties including imprisonment," New South Wales Police Superintendent Daryl Donnolly was quoted as saying in a statement released Saturday.

This whole investigation came about after a prominent retired Federal Court judge got out of a speeding ticket by claiming somebody else was driving his vehicle at the time. Turned out the person he named was a dead woman and his case is still under review for fraud or perjury charges.

His case opened up the books and had officials searching for others who might have tried similar tactics. They uncovered nearly 700,000 people in the past three years who had claimed somebody else was driving their cars at the time of the offense. So far, they have found that the same man was named on several hundred citations, even though he died five years ago. Not quite a Ghost Rider story, but we are fans, and couldn't resist slipping in an image.

[Source: Reuters]

Australian speeders caught dead handed originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 13 Nov 2006 15:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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