Did you know that most vehicles on the road today are equipped with a “Black Box” that will record every move a driver makes from as far away as a minute from an accident? When someone is in a crash and tells police their brakes failed, when in reality they never hit their brakes because they were distracted. Now they know. This equipment is not new. It became most prevalent in 1999 vehicles and advanced from there.
When this data needs to get extracted and deciphered, it is an expensive process. The equipment is not readily available because that unit costs about $30,000 . Now, the Accident Investigation Division is the recipient of a complete Crash Data Recorder System, courtesy of the Philadelphia Police Foundation. This includes the training needed by officers. Before this gift, the state police needed to be called and an officer would have to schedule with them to get this done. Now it can be done anytime.
Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw appreciates the Philadelphia Police Foundation’s support, saying, “The Foundation’s contributions to the department are invaluable. During the last year, the Foundation has funded more than $500,000 of equipment and training that the city budget could not cover. Recently, during the pandemic the Foundation spent $140,000 for 50-thousand N-95 masks to distribute to members of the department. And now, the Crash Data Retrieval system supports a level of professionalism we are committed to when serving our communities. The Philadelphia Police Foundation is indeed a positive Force Behind the Shield.”
Older vehicles do not have any type of recorder. The data is entered into the unit and saved when an airbag is triggered., Fender benders and minor impacts will not trigger an air bag deployment. Some of the information recorded is speed, braking power, direction of travel, steering info, some might even record car audio systems, such as changing the volume or blue tooth enabled devices, if they were in use at the time of the crash.
Police Foundation (PPF) was founded in 1999 as a nonprofit resource to help fund the critically important, unbudgeted needs of the Philadelphia Police Department. The Foundation remains true to its mission and has been responsible for raising more than $2 million for the police department. Last year, the PPF provided the Philadelphia Police Department with critical equipment, advanced training, community programs, and new technology at a cost of over $500,000. These purchases were made possible by generous donors and supporters from events like the annual Night for Blue and the Run for Blue.