Ford Upgrades Police Cars to Include Bulletproof Doors

Ford Upgrades Police Cars to Include Bulletproof Doors

It seems like it is a no-brainer, police cars should be bulletproof. Contrary to popular belief though, the vehicles’ doors have not been totally bulletproof until recently.

Ford Motor Company will soon be upgrading the doors on its Police Interceptor Sedans and SUVs. They’ll be the first in the U.S. to meet the Justice Department’s highest standard for body armor, the equivalent of a bulky SWAT team vest.

Ford has offered factory-installed ballistic panels on its police car doors since 2008, but the previous versions protected from handgun fire and non-armor piercing bullets. The new doors are designed to stop a .30-caliber bullet shot from a high-powered rifle like an AK-47. That is most powerful than most weapons carried by soldiers.

Ford’s ballistic-panels cover most of the door and include two layers. The outside layer is made from ballistic-grade ceramic tile while the second is made from aramid fiber, which is the same material used for Kevelar. The idea is that the bullet would first hit the ceramic, dispersing energy and breaking the bullet into tiny pieces, then as the bullet passes into the fiber, it will catch the shrapnel. The layers are strong enough to hold up even if a bullet hits the same spot twice, a rare occurrence.

The company started working on the new panels when calls started to flood in asking for better protection, particularly from the Middle East and Eastern Europe where armor-piercing bullets are a daily threat.

Because police are often targeted while driving in their cars, any kind of protection is a good idea, but these bulletproof doors just take the cake.

About the Author

Sydny Shepard is the Executive Editor of Campus Security & Life Safety.

Featured

New Products

  • Camden CV-7600 High Security Card Readers

    Camden CV-7600 High Security Card Readers

    Camden Door Controls has relaunched its CV-7600 card readers in response to growing market demand for a more secure alternative to standard proximity credentials that can be easily cloned. CV-7600 readers support MIFARE DESFire EV1 & EV2 encryption technology credentials, making them virtually clone-proof and highly secure.

  • Luma x20

    Luma x20

    Snap One has announced its popular Luma x20 family of surveillance products now offers even greater security and privacy for home and business owners across the globe by giving them full control over integrators’ system access to view live and recorded video. According to Snap One Product Manager Derek Webb, the new “customer handoff” feature provides enhanced user control after initial installation, allowing the owners to have total privacy while also making it easy to reinstate integrator access when maintenance or assistance is required. This new feature is now available to all Luma x20 users globally. “The Luma x20 family of surveillance solutions provides excellent image and audio capture, and with the new customer handoff feature, it now offers absolute privacy for camera feeds and recordings,” Webb said. “With notifications and integrator access controlled through the powerful OvrC remote system management platform, it’s easy for integrators to give their clients full control of their footage and then to get temporary access from the client for any troubleshooting needs.”

  • HD2055 Modular Barricade

    Delta Scientific’s electric HD2055 modular shallow foundation barricade is tested to ASTM M50/P1 with negative penetration from the vehicle upon impact. With a shallow foundation of only 24 inches, the HD2055 can be installed without worrying about buried power lines and other below grade obstructions. The modular make-up of the barrier also allows you to cover wider roadways by adding additional modules to the system. The HD2055 boasts an Emergency Fast Operation of 1.5 seconds giving the guard ample time to deploy under a high threat situation.