Standardization of the Central Console of Police Vehicles – An Outline of the Diagnosed Needs
Abstract
The authors bring closer the results of social studies conducted on a group of respondents - policemen using police cars during their everyday duty. The study seeks to answer the question: how to improve the daily duty and integrate the devices that are used for the everyday activities by the law enforcement services which contribute to safety or public order? It also seeks information and guidance concerning the actions to be taken in the future for the devices installed in police cars to be the most ergonomic and safest for their users.
Keywords
Download Options
Introduction
The publication is the result of the social studies performed during the project implemented in the field of defense and security under tender No. 7/2015 funded by the National Centre for Research and Development entitled "Development of police vehicles classification depending on their purpose and standardization of the central console of vehicles in the scope of arrangement and installation of ICT systems and control devices of special purpose signals" No. DOB-BIO7/04/02/2015. The project is implemented by a scientific consortium composed of the Police Academy in Szczytno - project leader, the Automotive Industry Institute from Warsaw and the company Marvel Sp. z o. o. from Lodz. The beneficiary of the effects of research and development in this project are to be the services reporting to the Minister of the Interior and Administration. The assumptions established in the project fit in well with the current priorities of the Chief of Police [1] for the years 2016- 2018. One of the seven priorities established by the Polish Police Headquarters include: improving the quality of the tasks performed by police officers and the employees of the Police by providing the optimal duty / work conditions. One of the specific tasks indicated for the implementation in this regard by the Polish Police Headquarters is equipping the Police with computer and communications hardware (including mobile devices and enabling the use of the functionality of information systems used by the Police) and transport equipment.
Conclusion
On the basis of the research material collected, referring it to the previously established research assumptions, it can be concluded that it is justified to design the modifications of the central console and the electrical system of vehicles with respect to their standardization and enabling the installation of communications and ICT equipment in appropriate locations. It is indicated in the needs signaled in the field research conducted on the users of the Police vehicles. Particularly noteworthy are the ones that have been exposed in the paper, relating to the safety and, subsequently, the ergonomics and the possibility of efficient operating duty vehicles. The needs diagnosed on the basis of the users’ reviews will be, in the later stages of the research, confronted with the technical capabilities in the field of the safe and ergonomic installation of devices in the vehicles. Account will be taken of the limitations of the current standards and regulations, and the requirements specified by vehicle manufacturers and the manufacturers of the equipment installed in the vehicles. Noteworthy and worthy of further research is the information collected from the users of the vehicles (Diagrams 4 and 5) reading that operating such additional devices as a radio or a light- and sound-signal control console, as assessed by some of the respondents, increases the risk of road accidents during the use of the devices while driving. In turn, diagrams 6, 7 and 8 show the concerns of policemen related to the possible detaching of the device and injuring the driver or passengers. The result suggests the need for the verification of the current rules and practices of the installation of such devices in duty vehicles.