New Dodge Charger Pursuit has cops’ backs
Mothers might not actually have eyes in the back of their heads, but the new Dodge Charger Pursuit vehicles do. Fiat Chrysler has improved the Officer Protection package on Dodge Charger cop cars to include new safety measures that will help keep officers safe from any type of ambush, particularly from the rear. The sensors and cameras the common folk all use to avoid hitting garbage cans, rogue shopping carts or other vehicles will be used as a cautionary lookout.
The Officer Protection package was first introduced on the 2017 Charger at no cost as a means to “increase an officer’s situational awareness when parked and working inside the vehicle.” It uses the ParkSense rear parking system and ParkView backup camera to recognize and alert officers if there is movement behind the vehicle. It uses technology from InterMotive, a firm that specializes in control modules for service vehicles such as police cars, tow trucks, and fire trucks. Simple installation includes plugging the InterMotive Surveillance Mode module into the OBD port and turning it on.
“With critical input and guidance from our police advisory board, we have enhanced the technology’s capabilities for the 2018 model year with additional sensors to provide officers with an expanded field of protection,” said Jeff Kommor, FCA’s vice president of U.S. fleet and sales operations.
The upgrade adds rear crosspath detection to the mix. This technology is traditionally used to notify drivers of incoming traffic when they are backing up. On the Charger Pursuit, it will also help identify possible threats to the car and the officers inside. If the law-enforcement agency using the car chooses, detected motion can trigger an alarm inside the vehicle to alert the officers, roll the windows up, lock the doors, turn the reverse lights on, and flash the taillights. This all happens automatically to scare off any intruders as well as to give the officers a chance to react.
Cynics might suggest it’s also one more piece of technology that could potentially get hacked, but on the brighter side, the updated technology is available immediately at no extra cost on all 2018 Charger Pursuit police models in the United States.