By:
VNC Automotive
Date:
20th September 2022
Over the past few years, VNC Automotive has been involved in several law enforcement projects. We’ve been seeing huge increases in demand recently – particularly from police forces – to connect various types of mission critical equipment to the OEM screen in the middle of many dashboards.
Traditionally, police cars would be converted by specialist installers who would screw in and fix screens to the dashboard and laptops. In some law enforcement vehicles, this means that the whole of the passenger side is completely overtaken with equipment, such as PCs for automatic number plate recognition, CCTV camera recording equipment, and so on.
Now, there is an opportunity to have all that equipment connected into the OEM dashboard screen and have all the technology controlled from there. We recently talked to our CEO, Tom Blackie, and Roger Lanctot, an industry expert from Strategy Analytics about technology in law enforcement vehicles and the benefits that come from improving integration and connectivity.
“It’s not just about the equipment in the vehicle connecting to the front it’s the ability to connect to and from the cloud and to back office systems and so forth” – Tom Blackie
Why is it so important to discuss automotive technology in law enforcement vehicles?
Technology moves incredibly fast. And automotive technology has not traditionally kept pace with technology in the mobile device market. That means that there is a vital need to integrate, something that is reflected in applications such as Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
But for law enforcement vehicles, the need goes far beyond that. The equipment in law enforcement vehicles isn’t for entertainment, but is urgent, and sometimes life-saving in its application. That said, in some regions where officers spend prolonged periods of time in their vehicle, perhaps there is a case for multimedia consumption, or in ambulance fleets transporting young patients.
How can these vital applications be integrated into law enforcement vehicles?
One of the key things that we at VNC Automotive have been doing is connecting the systems that control blue lights and sirens – something that would typically be connected via some kind of keypad, screwed into the dashboard with big buttons – into the screen on the dashboard.
We’ve seen other examples of automatic number plate recognition systems that connect from a PC in the trunk of the car with its own screen, keyboard, and user interface, again screwed somewhere in the centre console. We’ve been able to strip out all these extra keypads, keyboards, and screens, and have everything seamlessly integrated into the dashboard. The cabin is completely freed up and in so doing safer and more ergonomic for officers.
“Fundamentally we’re trying to save time, money, and lives with this kind of an integration solution. The applications are fully integrated, so there’s no difficulty connecting devices or trying to find a device as it is fully integrated into the car.” – Roger Lanctot
VNC Automotive solutions, such as Cobalt Cube®, eliminate the need for bulky add-on equipment within law enforcement vehicles, allowing officers to focus on the task at hand. If you have a question about Cobalt Cube, submit the form below to get in touch and find out more.
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20th September 2022