The Victoria police in Australia are deploying a new Tesla Model X as part of their fleet and they see the electric vehicle as “the future of road policing.”
Tesla is reportedly working with the police department to integrate features into the main screen.
Earlier today, the Victoria Police Department announced that they are deploying the first electric police vehicle in Australia.
They wrote in a press release:
“Today we are excited to have taken the first steps in what could be the biggest development in police vehicles since their introduction almost 100 years ago, becoming one of the first jurisdictions in the world to put an all-electric vehicle into its operational fleet.”
Victoria Police said that they purchased a Tesla Model X “as part of a feasibility study into developing fully integrated electric, IT-based police vehicles for fleet use.”
The Victoria Police Department indicated that they are working directly with Tesla engineers:
“This project will see Victoria Police work with Tesla engineers, emergency equipment manufacturers, the department’s vehicle installation contractor and Victoria Police’s IT and communications technicians in fitting equipment and integrating police software into the vehicle’s on-board system.”
Stuart Bailey, Inspector State Highway Patrol, said that they will run “their mobile data terminal” on the Tesla main screen.
They also plan to be able to play videos from their body cameras directly on the giant touchscreen.
Bailey said that the Tesla Model X is “the future” of police vehicles and that he could see all of their patrol vehicles being electric within the next 10 years.
Here’s a video of an interview with Bailey inside the new Model X police vehicle:
Road Policing Command Assistant Commissioner Stephen Leane said about the new vehicle:
“This vehicle is unlike any other the Victoria Police has ever had in its fleet and could well be the future of road policing in this state, country and the world,”
Leane also commented on the effort to incorporate some of the policing tools inside Tesla’s system:
“Our Highway Patrol cars are equipped with cutting edge technology and this car gives us the opportunity to investigate having these technologies in a fully integrated in-car system which has the potential of streamlining the road policing effort.”
The Assistant Commissioner also clarified that the Model X is going to be used as a concept vehicle for Victoria Police for potential future applications.
As we previously stated, Tesla vehicles are becoming strangely popular with police departments all over the world.
In the US, the Los Angeles Police Department and the Denver Police Department are both using Model S sedans as part of their fleets.
In Europe, Scotland Yard also says that it’s considering the vehicle and the Luxembourg Police converted two Model S sedans to patrol cars.
The Ontario Police also recently received a brand new Model X, which they also converted to a police vehicle.
Last year, we also reported on a Tesla Model S becoming a sneaky undercover police car and the Fremont Police Department also announced that it is converting a Tesla Model S to a patrol vehicle.
Electrek’s Take
I have been fascinated by how popular Tesla vehicles are becoming with police forces, but this application with the Victoria Police is particularly interesting because it looks like Tesla is working with them to implement police tools directly into the car’s software.
The prospect of Tesla building custom software for police departments has great implications for other possible applications.
It could mean that Tesla may open up its platform to other commercial fleets for management and special software tools.
What do you think? Let us know in the comment section below.
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