Ford Motor Company Offers Award-Winning Surveillance Mode Technology to Encourage Expanded Adoption

• Ford announces availability of surveillance mode, first introduced on 2014 Ford Police Interceptor, to competitive vehicle manufacturers and for use in military applications to encourage expanded adoption and to help protect law enforcement officers and military personnel around the globe

• Ford has received the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executive's Award for development and offering of surveillance mode technology, which gives law enforcement officers added situational awareness and a first line of defense from potential assailants

• Surveillance mode uses a rearview camera and radar to detect a person approaching the vehicle from behind, and automatically sounds a chime, rolls up the driver's side window, locks all doors and flashes exterior lighting

Ford Motor Company is announcing the availability of its multi- patent-pending surveillance mode technology to other vehicle manufacturers and for use in military applications. Award-winning surveillance mode – available on Ford Police Interceptor – was developed to warn law enforcement officers of unexpected approaches from behind the vehicle. It is being made available by Ford and through InterMotive Inc. to expand adoption of the system to help protect law enforcement officers and military personnel around the globe.

Ford and InterMotive worked together to develop, manufacture and provide the surveillance mode system for use on Ford Police Interceptor beginning with 2014 vehicles. InterMotive, based in Auburn, California, is known for providing innovative vehicle control systems for various applications, including law enforcement.

The system uses the existing rearview camera and radar to detect a person approaching the vehicle from behind and then automatically sounds a chime, rolls up the driver's side window, lock all doors and flashes exterior lighting. While officers write reports, monitor their in-car computer or radar and perform other tasks sitting in their vehicles, surveillance mode gives them an extra set of eyes to help protect against threats. When the system is activated by the officer, it provides added situational awareness and a first line of defense from potential assailants.

"We want to assist with and improve the security of all police officers – whether they are using a Ford Police Interceptor or a competitive vehicle," said Randy Freiburger, Ford police and ambulance special vehicle engineering supervisor. "Combining existing Ford technologies with the development of a new control module and software has created an innovative system that improves security for police officers while they are in their vehicles."

Ford recently earned the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executive's Award for development and offering of Surveillance Mode technology and its significant contributions toward improving officer security. The award was presented at NOBLE's 38th Annual Conference and Exhibition.

"We are honored to receive this prestigious award from NOBLE and hope to expand adoption of the innovative technology throughout the industry," said Chris Danowski, director of technology commercialization and licensing, Ford Global Technologies LLC. "Since surveillance mode technology is also applicable to military use, Ford and InterMotive are showcasing it to various governmental agencies as well."

"Working with Ford, we have been able to bring creative solutions to the market for many years," said Greg Schafer, president of InterMotive. "Working with Ford on this project has been especially gratifying because of the increase in officer security surveillance mode provides – officers immediately understand just how much this product can help them in the field."

For those wishing to license the technology from Ford, it and other technologies are available through Ford's corporate Technology Licensing Portal.

Automobile manufacturers, law enforcement agencies or companies wanting to purchase the surveillance mode system can contact InterMotive at http://www.intermotive.net.

The system uses the existing rearview camera and radar to detect a person approaching the vehicle from behind and then automatically sounds a chime, rolls up the driver's side window, lock all doors and flashes exterior lighting. While officers write reports, monitor their in-car computer or radar and perform other tasks sitting in their vehicles, surveillance mode gives them an extra set of eyes to help protect against threats. When the system is activated by the officer, it provides added situational awareness and a first line of defense from potential assailants.

Technology Co-Developed by Ford and Telogis Aims to Improve Police Officer, Public Safety

• Industry-first technology co-developed by Ford Motor Company and Telogis is intended to encourage safe driving behavior, reduce vehicle maintenance costs and municipal liability, and defend against complaints and litigation

• New technology encourages more widespread safety belt use, and can help prevent collisions involving police officers

• New system integrates vehicle telematics and law enforcement technology


DEARBORN, Mich., Oct. 28, 2014 – Ford has a new way to help police agencies save lives, prevent injuries and potentially help save millions of taxpayer dollars.

As agents of law and order, police officers monitor driving behavior to ensure the safety of the motoring public. But until now, unless investigators removed a police vehicle's black box and pulled the data after a traffic crash, no one has been able to monitor police vehicle operating conditions.

To help address this issue, Ford and Telogis have co-developed an industry-first telematics solution that builds on Ford's existing Crew Chief powered by Telogis and is designed specifically to help meet the monitoring needs of law enforcement agencies. The technology provides intelligent data and analytics law enforcement agencies need to dramatically improve officer safety and driving behavior, heighten situational and operational awareness, and help reduce vehicle maintenance costs.

With the addition of Ford Telematics on Ford Police Interceptor vehicles, police administrators can monitor officer location and vehicle operating conditions. While many agencies have policies that require officers to avoid excessive speed and that promote safety belt use, until now they had no visibility into the real-time driving habits of officers to enable training and encourage safe driving behaviors.

Ford Telematics for Law Enforcement builds upon the core design and engineering philosophy of Ford Police Interceptor for maximizing officer safety. And this is key to helping prevent police crashes by mitigating high-speed driving and encouraging safety belt use.

"We have a responsibility to the communities we serve and to our fellow officers to make safety behind the wheel one of our top priorities," said Vartan Yegiyan, director of police transportation II and commanding officer, Los Angeles Police Department. "The collaborative process that exists with the LAPD, Ford and Telogis has allowed us to customize this solution to meet the unique demands of our organization and other Ford police fleets."
 
"Vehicle accidents are the leading cause of officer fatalities, and even the slightest improvements in driver training and behavior within law enforcement organizations can potentially save lives," said Bill Frykman, manager, business and product development, Ford Motor Company. "Whether in emergency operation or not, vehicle data from this technology, in context with different driving situations will help illustrate to police organizations where changes can be made that will have a profound effect on officer safety."

"Working with Ford, we're delivering a solution for training and visibility for police departments that will be a game changer for their safety programs," said Greg Dziewit, vice president, OEM business at Telogis. "Combining exclusive Ford Interceptor vehicle data with the Telogis platform provides law enforcement agencies with unprecedented levels of intelligence about their fleet operations to drive safety, improve situational awareness during critical events and reduce overall costs."

While firearm-related police fatalities often make headlines, police administrators know traffic fatalities and injuries represent a greater statistical threat to officer safety. According to data from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, from 2004 to 2013, an average of nearly 55 officers were killed each year as a result of a firearms-related incident. For the same time period, an average of 64 officers a year died in traffic-related incidents.

"Traffic-related incidents have been the leading cause of law enforcement fatalities in 14 of the last 16 years," said Craig W. Floyd, National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund chairman and CEO. "Leveraging technology to improve law enforcement vehicle safety is integral to reducing the number of officers killed in traffic-related incidents each year."

In addition to safety belt use monitoring, the new system builds upon existing capabilities of Ford Crew Chief powered by Telogis to provide visibility into police vehicle lateral acceleration, spins, yaw rates, pursuit mode, accelerator pedal position, brake pedal position, engine torque, antilock braking system events, and stability control and traction control events.

Agencies can also get individualized scorecards on police officers' driving behaviors based on these inputs.

The system is another example of Ford's work to help enhance police officer safety. Last year, Ford unveiled a surveillance mode feature that uses existing sensor technology to automatically roll up windows, lock doors and sound an alarm if, when parked, someone approaches the vehicle from the rear.