Paris Police Department patrol units will be sporting a new look in the next few days. Chief Bob Hundley said all officers and employees of the department were involved in the selection of the new graphics design. “We wanted our employees involved in the decision on what designs we were using to represent them and the department. Seven designs were considered by police personnel and in two polls, the final selection was made. Our main interest was the visibility of the patrol vehicles at night. Visible patrol is a known deterrent to crime and we wanted to make sure no one would have a problem identifying a police vehicle being in the area. These graphics are made from high quality reflective material and include what is referred to as ‘stealth graphics’. The stealth graphics are not all that noticeable during daylight hours but become reflective at night.” The graphics currently in use were adopted in 1996.
Silver chevron style graphics on the rear bumper along with reflective trim increase the visibility of the patrol car from the rear. The sides of the vehicles have large letters spelling POLICE involved in a silver/gray and blue design. The departments’ badge is replicated on the front doors of the vehicle with the unit number on the front quarter panel. As with all emergency response units in the City of Paris, Think Child Safety logos are featured on the roof supports.
Four new patrol units in the FY 2009/2010 budget are going through the transition of having light bars, video systems and other equipment recycled from the old patrol cars going off the front line. The first patrol unit to receive the graphics change should be on the streets by this weekend as the change of equipment takes place. Eventually all front line patrol cars will have the new graphics package. The cost of the graphics kit for each patrol car is $30 less than those used previously.
In addition to the graphics change, new technology is being installed in all front line patrol cars. Purchased through a US Justice Assistance Grant, new digital video and audio systems are being installed to replace the obsolete VHS tape systems currently in use. By moving to this digital technology, video quality is greatly enhanced. This system also provides for a wireless transfer of the video from the patrol car system to a department server located inside the police station. Any time the patrol car is parked on the south side staff parking area of the station, the video is automatically downloaded to the server through a secure Wi-Fi network without officer action. Officers will no longer have to deal with labeling video tapes and keeping track of the required 90 days’ supply of tapes. All video will be on a computer server, which is archived. According to Hundley, “Videos from officer/citizen contacts are invaluable for case prosecution and citizen complaint resolution. We have a policy regarding the manual activation of the system during citizen contact and the video system automatically comes on with activation of the overhead warning lights.” The total of the grant was $61495 with a local match of $7148. The new system will be installed in the remainder of the front line patrol cars after the new cars are put in service.