Seattle PD car question...

tiki_dood

Member
May 24, 2010
51
Seattle, WA
It's not CNG/propane... I know that much for sure. Every SPD car has one, including the one I purchased, and its not an alternative fuel vehicle.


I've been told it's a key vault of some kind... if so, I would like to know what kind as there is a big hole in my fender where it was removed from.
 

unlisted

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 20, 2010
7,333
NA
If you purchased a car with it, remove the interior side trunk panel and see what its hooked upto.. ;)


Than take some images. ;)
 

unlisted

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 20, 2010
7,333
NA
tiki_dood said:
There is nothing there, but a big hole and six screw holes on mine. It was removed, I am guessing by SPD, prior to sale.[/quote:19byaag7]


Sorry, I'm a tad HBD... :lol:
 

mike

Member
May 23, 2010
61
usa, california
could be an antenna mount like the ones chp commercial units had on their unmarked snowwhites


shore power, especially if the car is used in a cold enviornment
 

NPS Ranger

Member
May 21, 2010
1,988
Penn's Woods
Seems wrong shape/too small for a shoreline, stupid place for a key vault, and ALPS mounted there is in danger of being knocked off. My guess would be provision for some sort of antenna, maybe for someone's interoperability project that never got put to use.
 

Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
Jared @ 911Lights said:
or why you would mount an antenna on the side of a vehicle, rather than on top.

-Jared


All THP Units and some larger more rural countys have low band antennaes mounted on the side fendors
 

TCO

Member
May 21, 2010
808
Malvern,Pa
read somewhere it may have something to do with the hard drives mounted in the trunks that record everything each ofc does,miles,camera info,etc and it is down loaded everyday from each vehicle according to info from the dept web site
 

C2Installs

Member
May 24, 2010
477
Tennessee
crescentstar69 said:
Seems stupid to cut a hole into the body for something like a data port.

Stupid, why? Once the car has a lightbar cable hole, lightbar bracket mounting holes, 1-6 assorted antenna holes, a spotlight hole, strobe insert holes, and/or fascia cuts for a pushbumper, not to mention any interior holes/cuts, what difference does one more hole make?


Again, a download port for a network connection is my bet. Integrian's Digital Patroller I/II (a hunk o' crap overall) used a similar set-up, for example. They had a weather-proof, trailer-type connector housing with a Cat-5 cable connection for downloading video. It was big & bulky, but could be mounted almost anywhere, such as in a console, flush in a body panel, on a bracket in the cabin or trunk, etc. While wireless downloads are more in demand now, I could see how Seattle PD might prefer plugging-in. After all, the city is hacker central and I bet there is no such thing as a secure wireless network there. The install looks good, blends a bit with the stripe. That spot in a CVPI is a common mounting location for electronics, as there is a good power source there in non-Crown North packages and plenty of room.
 

C2Installs

Member
May 24, 2010
477
Tennessee
Why would you want to leave your trunk open to download video? Or even have to open the trunk? You are assuming they are able to stay with the car, are indoors, etc. Video can take a bit of time to download. I would never leave my trunk open unattended. And still not getting your point, but hey, it ain't MY car, either.
 

Rofocowboy84

Member
May 20, 2010
1,161
Centre County, PA
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Well, seems like it's supposed to be hidden, not out in plain sight, because I'm guessing it's just attached to the sheet metal? Wouldn't be all that hard to take it off.....also, it "solves the problem of missing keys"? YOU NEED A KEY TO OPEN IT!!! And as infrequently as they're probably used, you would have no idea where the key for it is!
 

GaryErrol

Member
May 28, 2010
308
Indianapolis
Rofocowboy84 said:
YOU NEED A KEY TO OPEN IT!!! And as infrequently as they're probably used, you would have no idea where the key for it is!

Master keys, everyone needing access has a master key that fits every vehicles lock. Instead of having several master keys per model of vehicle, they have one master key for all vehicles.
 

Stendec

Member
May 21, 2010
816
There are considerably uglier ones on the market. For agencies that don't have their cars keyed alike they can be huge labor savers, particularly when you have 15 cars in a 5 car lot and have to play cruiser Tetris to get your car out.
 
Jul 14, 2010
1,639
S.W. Ohio USA
We made the mistake of ordering 10 CVPI's keyed alike a few years back. Sounds like a great concept............ Until every time you leave a house from taking a report, your damn car is "stolen" by another officer pranking you, and you have to search the neighborhood for it!
 

RL1

Member
May 20, 2010
1,649
Ga
I think the key vault is just so the fleet managers (only ones with vault key) can always have a key/place to store spare keys, not for officer's daily use. I understand the need for spare keys, but I have never been locked out of my work car or lost a key. Oh, and for those with CVPI's, I have seen many guys at my dept get their locked cars 'stolen' or messed with, though they are not keyed the same. It is apparently easy to use an old key as a master key if you wiggle it just right.
 

Stendec

Member
May 21, 2010
816
RL1 said:
I understand the need for spare keys, but I have never been locked out of my work car or lost a key.

You realize that you are now doomed, don't you? :lol:


I ALWAYS have a spare key on me. I've also never had a car fitted with the equipment to let me leave it running without the key in the ignition, so I've had to deliberately lock keys in the car routinely.
 

RL1

Member
May 20, 2010
1,649
Ga
Stendec said:
You realize that you are now doomed, don't you? :lol:


I ALWAYS have a spare key on me. I've also never had a car fitted with the equipment to let me leave it running without the key in the ignition, so I've had to deliberately lock keys in the car routinely.


Yeah, might as well kick my own butt now, haha. I keep one in the ignition, one in my chest pocket, and the key fob on my belt. On my old car, I had 3 spare keys and a key fob. Also, both have a spare door only key in the lock box in the Sgt office.


Oh, and yes, I have lot the key to my POV before. Several times.
 

Shawn L

Member
May 21, 2010
2,477
Corbett, Oregon
you can attempt to key the fleet alike, but you cant ever make it 100% keyed alike, its not even possible unless you were to use all of 1 type of vehicle, some of the ford truck even use different key blanks then the crown vics. the key vaults allow ANYONE with the key access to the vehicle, weather its an international chassis command post to a crown vic or a motorcycle.
 

MPD 818

Member
May 25, 2010
1,317
Murfreesboro TN
All of the AT&T vehicles have a simliar lock on them. I think they are primarily used by the fleet services people so that if they need to come get your car to do service on it they always have access to a key instead of tracking the officer down.
 

Shawn L

Member
May 21, 2010
2,477
Corbett, Oregon
yeah the fleet will have the same key for the "lock box" and then that vehicles key will be inside the box. , like with police officers most of them have a spare handcuff key on their belt, they just put a lock box key on there too
 

therepoman

Member
Oct 10, 2010
24
phila pa usa
here is a tip guys ford only has 5 key codes for the cvpi so for the older cars non chip keys which is 95 percent of them the key blank would be a h75 and one of only 5 key codes the new cars are a h72 key blank but still only 5 codes so any key to a cvpi can usually open atleast a few other cars in a departments fleet and yes a older cvpi key can be manuplated to make a generic master key
 

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