Could Be The Brightest Idea In Law Enforcement
The New Jersey State Police are replacing the all-red, revolving warning lights on its fleet of 900 trooper cars with new red and blue Linear-LED light bars. The new lights bars are more streamlined compared to the older lights, and are also easier to see from far away.
“We wanted something to give people more time to react,” says Lt. Russ Fleming, head of the Radio, Electronics, and Maintenance Unit. Industry assessments also indicate that the blue lights are more detectable in rain, fog, and snow.
To date, 115 new Ford Crown Victorias have been outfitted with the new light bars, which cost about $1,800 apiece. They feature approximately 50 LEDs (light emitting diodes) attached onto eight panels, which are clear unless extra power is released, triggering flashes of blue and red light.
The LED light bars also consume less power from the cars’ 12-volt batteries — less than 5 amperes compared to the 50 amperes consumed by older revolving strobe and halogen bulbs, says Robert Squicciarini, a regional sales manager for Whelen Engineering of Chester, Conn., which supplied the light bars. He adds that the new lights are visible from any angle, whether “parked at an angle” or “parked parallel to the highway.”
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from the Bergen Record (01/20/04) P. A1; Bautista, Justo.
