Even without a rear-wheel drive offering, Ford commands the majority of the police fleet market with their Taurus and Explorer based Police Interceptors. And they keep making them better with features like ballistic protection that’s nothing short of amazing.
When Police Interceptors roll off the line in Chicago, they are shipped across town to Ford’s Troy Design & Manufacturing where they are finished out. There, the requisite police trims and accessories are installed on the fresh builds from the main assembly plant.
Among the many equipment packages and accessories that police and other government agencies can specify now is a new package which offers Department of Justice’s National Institute of Justice standard Type IV ballistics protection.
The TYPE IV panels inserted into doors at the Troy Design & Manufacturing are designed to protect against multiple grades of armor piercing ammunition up to .30 caliber. The two layer panels have a ceramic tile outer layer that breaks up the bullet on impact. On the inside is a fiber layer that catches the fragments and contains them.
In testing shown here, the panels are subjected to a wide variety of bullets from several weapons to demonstrate their capability. They used 7.62 rounds in both AK47 and and Remington 700 hunting rifle. Also using and M4 they fired 5.56 rounds, M855, and M193. Additional rounds were fired from a 45 caliber and 9 mm pistol.
As you can see from the tests, not a single round came through the panel, leaving the door panel trim inside undamaged. The door and the ballistic panel would of course need replacement, but the officer would be able to show up for work another day.
A panels package is also offered in a more mainstream Type III protection level that are rated to protect against all handgun and non-armor piercing bullets up to .30 caliber as well as special threat rounds identified by the Los Angeles Police Department.
While the glass itself isn’t bullet proof or resistant, the coverage area of the panels enables officers in the line of fire a place of refuge when in the vehicle, or with the door open in a tactical position protecting vital parts of their body.
The panels do add a significant degree of weight to the vehicles but with their protection level offered in addition to powerful engine options like the 365 horsepower twin-turbo EcoBoost V6, performance can still be pursuit-rated.
The 2016 Ford Police Interceptor line commands over 50% of the market in North America with the Explorer based utility being the top selling model. You know this already as you see them virtually everywhere – on the highways and on your city streets.
