In my department, the old sheriff cared not for any sort of effective warning packages on his cruisers. Therefore, they stuck with a lot of cheap Able2 products (the array of several 5mm standard brightness LEDs punched through a piece of plastic and mounted to the grill guard). They also didn't believe in lightbars for some reason, and so all of our vehicles had dash lights that weren't matched up to the windshield. It was a horror to drive code.
Now we have new administration, all of whom are fantastic to work for. Working on a limited budget they have been able to procure some really good stuff for our department. Emergency lighting, however, has not been one of them.
The only thing that has stuck, unfortunately, is the mentality behind warning power. My county is one of the largest in the state but has very few LEOs. Frequently I am either the only one working at the time, and so the drive to a hot call can last for an hour or more while running code. During the night-time, this gets extra scary as we tend to have plenty of deer that like to meet the front of your cruiser at 120mph.
To put it plainly, the warning package on my cruiser sucks. It's a 2009 Chevy Impala with the following:
(2) Whelen Lin3's on Go-Rhino Push Bumper
(1) Whelen Dual Avenger (R/B) suction mounted to the windshield
(4) Whelen Lin3's flange mounted in back window
Factory W/W on Tail and Headlights
4x60 HAW Whelen Strobe Package
Carson SC-409 Commander Siren w/ (1) Speaker
The forward warning power is horrible. The Avenger is suction mounted to the passenger side, and so if I'm following behind a vehicle during the day trying to get it stopped or go around it, people frequently do not see me. The suction cups fly off at random times, normally when cornering at high speeds or flipping on a speeder.
I've brought the matter to the attention of our administration but right now we are too strapped for budget to do anything about it. At this point I'm about to break down and buy up a ton of TIR-3s, mount them all over my car and make the thing look like a UFO. Ideally, a lightbar would be best for my vehicle but I lack the funds to purchase one on my own.
What do you all recommend I do in order to improve my 360 warning power? One of these times I am going to get clocked driving code somewhere because a semi-truck did not see me at night.
Now we have new administration, all of whom are fantastic to work for. Working on a limited budget they have been able to procure some really good stuff for our department. Emergency lighting, however, has not been one of them.
The only thing that has stuck, unfortunately, is the mentality behind warning power. My county is one of the largest in the state but has very few LEOs. Frequently I am either the only one working at the time, and so the drive to a hot call can last for an hour or more while running code. During the night-time, this gets extra scary as we tend to have plenty of deer that like to meet the front of your cruiser at 120mph.
To put it plainly, the warning package on my cruiser sucks. It's a 2009 Chevy Impala with the following:
(2) Whelen Lin3's on Go-Rhino Push Bumper
(1) Whelen Dual Avenger (R/B) suction mounted to the windshield
(4) Whelen Lin3's flange mounted in back window
Factory W/W on Tail and Headlights
4x60 HAW Whelen Strobe Package
Carson SC-409 Commander Siren w/ (1) Speaker
The forward warning power is horrible. The Avenger is suction mounted to the passenger side, and so if I'm following behind a vehicle during the day trying to get it stopped or go around it, people frequently do not see me. The suction cups fly off at random times, normally when cornering at high speeds or flipping on a speeder.
I've brought the matter to the attention of our administration but right now we are too strapped for budget to do anything about it. At this point I'm about to break down and buy up a ton of TIR-3s, mount them all over my car and make the thing look like a UFO. Ideally, a lightbar would be best for my vehicle but I lack the funds to purchase one on my own.
What do you all recommend I do in order to improve my 360 warning power? One of these times I am going to get clocked driving code somewhere because a semi-truck did not see me at night.