Maryland Police Cars Ride With Blue Lights on
WILMINGTON — The car is doing 55 in a 45. The driver sees a black-and-white Wilmington police cruiser upwardly ahead and rapidly slows to the speed limit. Or straps on a seatbelt when pulling next to a cop motorcar at a stoplight.
We've all done it, correct?
As much as law-enforcement officials want to catch lawbreakers, a big function of their job is to have enough of a presence in the customs that fewer people will break the law in the first place. The idea is, if police are more visible, there'due south likely to be less crime — and overall safe will be enhanced.
The WPD is trying a unproblematic new strategy to boost its visibility — when its patrol cars are on the streets, the bluish, low-ability, not-flashing "cruise" lights will be on at all times. The LED prowl lights are already part of the calorie-free bars on the WPD's newer patrol cars, and then there'south no cost.
"We're e'er looking for new and different means to bear on our customs," WPD Capt. Rodney Dawson said Fri.
"There are 3 main goals for this initiative," Dawson said while talking to reporters in front of a cruiser, a steady, bluish glow visible on each side of the rooftop light bar.
Dawson stated visibility as the first and foremost intention. "Nosotros want our community to exist able to see our officers and know where they're at," he said.
Traffic rubber and reduction of offense in "certain neighborhoods and business areas" circular out other objectives, co-ordinate to the captain.
"We've got mostly positive feedback so far," Dawson said. "We have had some negative feedback — folks maxim, you know, I didn't know if you were pulling me over. I idea there was maybe a criminal offence going on that I needed to know about."
Drivers need not react unless the lights are flashing or they hear a siren.
Patrolling with the cruise lights on is non a new idea. From painting cars certain colors to changing the sound of a siren, public safety agencies are always looking to improve their visibility and emergency signaling. LED engineering science and more-sophisticated light bars have fabricated that easier. Although they are part of the same system that produces the flashing emergency lights that crave action from nearby drivers, cruise lights are basically an extension of a police vehicle's unique paint scheme.
I expert on lighting for public-safety vehicles said that even though virtually law-enforcement vehicles accept cruise lights, they are not widely used.
"They are an underutilized tool that is counter-intuitively powerful for police applications," said Matthew Ayers, a erstwhile police captain in Sevierville, Tenn., who now helps law enforcement and other agencies improve their lighting and other safety and warning signals.
"This low-profile lighting can increase a department's non-emergency visibility past offering clear identification with a less distracting, less confusing bespeak," he said. "Properly used, cruise lights communicate police presence in a mode that calms scenes and improves public perception."
Ayers said he was enlightened of situations in which people complained they never saw police cars in their neighborhood, even though patrol logs showed that was not the case. When cruise lights were added, the public'south perception of the police presence became more than accurate.
Dawson said the practice will be tried for at to the lowest degree 30 days and so evaluated to see if the lights announced to accept a positive impact.
As to whether some people might view the beefed-upwardly visibility as intimidating or too aggressive, Dawson said no one had expressed that as a concern, at to the lowest degree so far.
"Overall, the feedback has been positive," he said. "They give thanks us for beingness visible. We've always been at that place. This just helps depict your attention a scrap more than to us."
Send tips and comments to Scott Nunn at scott@localdailymedia.com
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Source: https://portcitydaily.com/local-news/2021/01/23/driving-in-wilmington-and-seeing-blue-its-not-just-you/
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