When you see flashing red and blue lights you know police are attending a scene. But what if the pace of the lights was coordinated between the cruisers?
Guelph Police Service implemented intuitive lighting in spring of 2020 when the police cruiser fleet was being switched over to hybrid vehicles, said Jim Turow, the service's fleet coordinator.
The system is called CenCome Core from a company called Whelen. It uses a vehicle to vehicle module so the lighting on police cruisers sync up within 10 to 15 seconds of turning on, said Turow.
Did you know we were one of the first services to install intuitive lighting on our cruisers? When two or more cruisers have their pulsing lights activated, they automatically synchronize. This is less distracting for the public and officers, increasing safety for all. #Guelph pic.twitter.com/u4k3z7jnVF
— Guelph Police Service (@GuelphPolice) January 2, 2024
Historically lights between cruisers weren’t synchronized and “that can be a hazard or risk for accidents. So now even though it's going to attract their attention now it pulses and everything is synchronized,” said Turow.
The cost from the previous system to the new one isn’t a big difference. “It's an investment in officer and community safety,” he said.
While reflecting on the system being implemented three years ago Turow said it has exceeded his expectations.
When an officer pulls up to a scene and puts the vehicle in park the pace of the flashing lights slows down. “So that's why we call it intuitive. Where a lot of things are happening where the officers don't have to think about it because they have enough to think about with the call they're dealing with,” Turow said.
Other features include dimming the lights and putting the lights to a steady flash that pulses about every 10 seconds.
“In the past police services have said … we need stuff that's less distracting, and we need stuff that's more calming,” Turow said.
The red and blue lights are recognizable. The cruisers are important and the lighting can calm a scene down when it’s synchronized because it is “less chaotic and less blinding,” he said.
The e-bike fleet within the Guelph Police Service does not have synchronized lighting since Turow felt the investment didn’t make sense to have that particular fleet. He couldn’t see how it would fit on the e-bikes since the system itself is about eight by 10 inches.
In Ontario there are about a dozen police services that have implemented the intuitive lighting system, Turow said.
