Added protection as officers find themselves increasingly under fire.
By Paul A. Eisenstein
In a nation armed to the teeth, police officers are increasingly finding themselves coming under assault from criminals and terrorists who may sport some serious firepower.
Ford aims to provide better protection, at least while officers are cruising in one of its police interceptors, such as the Ford Explorer. The Detroit maker is beefing up those cruisers with armor designed to resist conventional arms and even armor-piercing bullets.
“Officers globally told us they needed protection from armor piercing ammunition and we added increased ballistic protection to an already great product – that’s continuous innovation,” said Arie Groeneveld, chief engineer, Ford Police Interceptors.
Ford has long been the U.S. leader in providing police cruisers. Its old Crown Victoria model dominated the market for decades. But when it abandoned that aging vehicle a few years back that touched off a battle among manufacturers hoping to grab some share.
Despite seeing new offerings from Fiat Chrysler and General Motors, however, Ford remains the dominant player in the police market, offering specially tricked-out versions of its Explorer SUV and big Taurus sedan.
The latest models have added a number of features requested by police department in the U.S. and abroad, Ford notes, including the latest in mobile computer technology. But armor has become an increasingly urgent issue as more officers find themselves under fire. Four have been shot in the line of duty in New York City alone this year, and two officers there were assassinated as they say in the cruiser late in 2015.
Armoring has become big business for the auto industry, especially in markets where crime and terrorism are especially rampant – places like Latin America and the Middle East. It typically requires extensive work to retrofit a vehicle. The challenge for Ford was to find a way to routinely upgrade models like the Explorer Pursuit Vehicle before shipping them off to customers.
Armoring isn’t an easy task, as it can require a different approach to address each type of threat, even when comparing one type of bullet to another.
Ford is offering several different levels of armor, including protection against Level IV, or armor-piercing, rounds. The modifications can, depending on the level of protection, require the addition of two layers of armor, a Kevlar sheet and ceramic tiles. They have to be squeezed into a relatively tight space within the doors and the added weight stresses the hinges, among other things.
Ford plans to begin taking orders later this month. It hasn’t revealed pricing for the new armored protection systems.
Fiat Chrysler says it offers some armoring for its Dodge Charger pursuit vehicle. GM says it works with an outside armorer for police departments that want added protection with its Chevrolet Caprice police car.
Read the article in The Detroit Bureau
