Yes. You Do Have A Choice.
Is it right that in 2020, some operational police vehicles and commands in Australia still use 1st generation lighting products as the vehicle's primary and in some cases, only safety warning light for urgent duty or stationary live lane traffic stops ?
Over the years, fleet has used many excuses to discourage and prevent commands and specialists units from making their own improvements to the current "approved" fit out of operational response police vehicles. Some of these excuses that we have heard include “not following standard operational procedures”, “not a particular brand of product” and “must be supplied & fitted by fleet”.
So together, let us debunk a few of these excuses with some very simple explanations.
1. Standard Operational Procedures (SOP)
Whilst we do recognise the importance of fleet uniformity, consistency and that standard guidelines are helpful, commanders and decision makers must consider if current SOP’s are adequate for their troops especially when compared to current world standards and best practices for emergency response vehicles.
Emergency response vehicles should as a minimum, always have 2 levels of safety lighting for both front and rear with the aim to have 3 wherever possible and practical. This can easily be achieved with a magnetic beacon product making the third and highest level on the vehicle.
Unmarked vehicles are most at risks, as there are no reflective markings or high profile roof top warning light bars to provide primary warning visibility to other road users during urgent duty or traffic stops. Because of this, unmarked vehicles should really have 2 levels of lighting permanently fitted (not magnetic) especially for the rear.
REDFLEET offers the RAZORBACK safety lighting product, an easy to fit cost effective reusable solution that is safe, secure and removable before the vehicle is returned to fleet for disposal with no permanent holes or modifications required.
2. Must be a particular Brand or Product.
REDFLEET is a proud Australian brand and company based in Silverwater and we are also an authorised distributor for Code3 Asia Pacific which means we have access to the same products insisted by fleet if that becomes the case.
Whilst fleet is in contract to procure a specific brand of products from a specific supplier, this does not mean individual commands and specialist units have to do the same.
REDFLEET is an authorised vendor of the NSWPF with an official vendor number and we have been supplying our products and services to numerous commands and specialists units for many years now. We are also an ongoing supplier to several NSW Government departments right across the state.
As individual commands have to rely on their own allocated budgets for safety lighting enhancements for their unmarked operational vehicles, alternative products that offer the same, similar or better performance and specification must be considered especially if it achieves the fundamental rule of “better value when spending public dollars”.
REDFLEET provides a fast local in-house and mobile installation service with a same day turnaround in most cases. Our products are also backed by a local 6 Year product replacement warranty which is longer than what fleet is currently able to offer.
3. Must be Fitted by Fleet.
Yes, every operational police vehicle comes out with a specific set of switches, controls and products supplied and fitted by fleets primary contractor.
For many unmarked general duty vehicles, individual commands are responsible in supplying their own front dash light connecting to the fleet supplied 2 pin black connector and a magnetic beacon to the 3 pin white socket.
This not only creates inconsistency in standards but commands are left to figure what budget they have, and which vehicle gets priority to be enhanced.
To meet fleet guidelines, REDFLEET safety lighting solutions easily connects to the standard plug and play black connectors provided by fleet or to the Vehicles factory cig plug socket. This ensures that no fleet wiring is cut, removed or modified in any way including no permanent marks or holes during installation.
Fleet also mandates that any lights added must produce minimal to zero flashback within the vehicle when the lights are activated to ensure minimal distraction to the driver and occupants of the vehicle even though many of the current fleet setups produce high levels of flashback especially around the rear windscreen area.
Our new RAZORBACK lights plugs directly to fleets standard black 2 pin connector, and are universally compatible to all current NSWPF vehicles as it uses automotive grade double sided adhesive to bond to any automotive glass much like a Toll Tag or Dash Camera. When it is time to replace the vehicle, simply remove the adhesive pad and clean the surface with some alcohol wipes.The same REDFLEET lights are then transferred to a new set of RAZORBACK flashback shields with fresh adhesives ready for installation into your next vehicle.
Our objective here is not to challenge fleet, but instead, we aim to provide a qualified response whilst remaining focused on providing real world solutions that cut through red tape, long turnaround times and more importantly, become a cost effective choice for your command.
We promise to do more with the same budget you have as we aim to help improve the standards of as many urgent duty vehicles as possible.
