Police

While we hear a lot about the ways in which hovering aerial drones can potentially be used to violate peoples’ privacy, it’s always nice to know that they can help us, too. That was the case last Thursday (May 9th), when RCMP from the Canadian city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan used a remotely-operated quadcopter to locate the victim of a single-vehicle rollover, which occurred in the countryside at near-freezing temperatures.  Read More

Starting in April, 2013, the Arlington Texas police department will have permission from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to fly two small helicopter UAVs over the city in certain situations, including taking crime scene photos or looking for missing persons. While these UAVs have been operating for some time, until now flights have been restricted to remote testing area.  Read More

We’ve all seen movies where a strip of retractable spikes at a checkpoint tears up a vehicle’s tires, or where a roadside cop throws a chain of linked spikes across the highway in front of a car. While such devices are pretty effective, there’s always room for improvement. That’s where the Pit-BUL and NightHawk car-stopping devices come into play. Both devices are based on a single other existing product, known as the Safe, Quick, Undercarriage Immobilization Device ... or SQUID, for short.  Read More

Zero Motorcycles has followed the launch of its 2013 consumer range with special versions of its Dual Sport and Street models designed for law enforcement and security patrols. The 2013 Police/Security models feature a powerful new motor, front protection bars with a built-in siren system, and a four-way emergency flasher system.  Read More

Imagine that you’re a police officer in the midst of a riot. While you may be able to apprehend the offenders closest to you, you can see plenty of other looters and vandals who you’re just not able to get to at the moment. Well, that’s where SelectaDNA’s High Velocity DNA Tagging System would come into the picture. At the heart of the system is a gun that shoots non-lethal pellets, which contain uniquely-coded synthetic DNA.  Read More

A few weeks ago, the world got a look at what the future of law enforcement mobility might look like by way of the 2012 L.A. Design Challenge. Today, the world gets a look at what the future of law enforcement mobility will look like, assuming the Carbon Motors TX7 Multi-Mission Vehicle finds a few buyers.  Read More

The RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) has become the world’s first police or security force to make use of the International MXT Armoured Personnel Carrier. Navistar Defense Canada announced yesterday that it has delivered on a US$14 million contract from the Government of Canada, to supply 18 of its vehicles to the RCMP. The police force stated that the MXT APCs “will enhance the safety of officers involved in critical incidents" – these could reportedly include hostage takings, armed standoffs, barricaded persons and search and rescue operations.  Read More

When most of us realize that we’re overdressed for the weather, we can simply take off that extra jacket or whatnot that’s causing us to overheat. Police officers, however, don’t have the option of taking off their bulletproof vests ... and those vests aren’t exactly known for being lightweight and breathable. Fortunately, a team from Swiss research institution Empa has developed just the thing for those hot cops – an air-conditioned ballistic vest.  Read More

While something called a “vortex gun” might sound like a device from science fiction, the fact is that they have been available as novelties for years – if you’ve ever used a toy gun that shot out a smoke ring, then you’ve used a vortex gun. Lately, however, scientists from the Ohio-based Battelle R & D group have developed one that could have practical uses for people such as firefighters, exterminators and riot cops.  Read More