NCJ Number
83243
Journal
Police Chief Volume: 49 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1982) Pages: 138-144
Date Published
1982
Length
7 pages
Annotation
Panelists discuss the structure of the Italian police to facilitate police-community relations, an improved vehicle-stopping device for police traffic enforcement, the Federal shift in priorities in highway safety programs, and police guidelines for handling hazardous materials spills.
Abstract
The first presentation, which examines the structuring of the Italian police to reflect the police role in a democratic society, outlines a decentralized structure which permits local police to respond to the needs of their particular community, both as determined by the police and expressed by the citizenry, while reflecting basic law enforcement policies devised at regional and national law enforcement levels. The second presentation describes an improved vehicle-stopping device recently successfully tested under the sponsorship of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The device is designed to bring a pursued vehicle to a safe stop without injury to the car's occupants and without causing any damage. The device consists of two rows of hollow spikes inserted in a four-ply woven rubber belting with segmented metal back plating. As the targeted car rolls over the spikes, they become embedded in the front wheels, with the hollow spikes allowing air to escape as the front tires deflate. Tests have shown that cars are forced to stop safely on an average of 2 miles after puncturing the tires. The third presentation indicates that the priority efforts of Federal highway safety programs in 1982 will focus on alcohol and drunken driving. Programs in order of these areas are outlined. In the fourth presentation, the use and content of the Response Guidebook for Hazardous Materials are outlined.