Ford is helping police become even more stealth.
The automaker announced Thursday that it's outfitting its Ford Police Interceptor — already the company's best-selling police vehicle — with a new, factory-installed front interior visor light bar that's bound to enable patrol vehicles to keep an even lower profile.
"Today, agencies typically use aftermarket interior visor light bars that are somewhat bulky and can obstruct the field of vision — especially for taller officers," Stephen Tyler, Ford's police marketing manager for North American fleet, lease and remarketing operations, said as part of the company's announcement. "This extremely low-profile unit is fully integrated where the headliner and top of the windshield meet, for tremendously improved driver visibility versus aftermarket alternatives."
When activated, the visor light flashes bright, alternating red and blue bars through the top of the windshield. It can also be customized to red/red or blue/blue lighting.
Giving police a further advantage is the fact that the visor light can be set from full intensity trickled down to 20 percent power with an additional auto-dimming capability as well. That would seemingly allow police to work that much more effectively during nighttime, whether they're hiding out on the deep shoulder of the highway and waiting to bust a speeding driver or even stealthily following a vehicle, for that matter.
The new visor lighting system also boasts bright white "take down" and "scene" features, giving police an even sharper forward visibility.
Ford says another advantage for law enforcement using this new interior light is that the dark shade band at the top of the windshield being replaced with clear glass when the light is ordered, giving off improved brightness and visibility.
The new visor light is available to order now for the 2017 Ford Police Interceptor Utility vehicle.
The best part of this system for police is the interior-built visor light eliminates the need for a visible, often-bulky roof-mounted light bar that we're used to seeing on top of law enforcement vehicles. Since the visor light is more seamless, it should help police be even more covert.
Good news for them ... not so good for criminals.
