New Ford ‘Surveillance Mode’ protects police when their car is approached from behind

Ford Motor, in collaboration with a company called Intermotive, has developed a new feature for its Interceptor police cars. The rear camera, normally only when when backing up, can now detect when a person is approaching the vehicle from the rear. When that happens, an alarm sounds and the car automatically locks the doors and rolls up the windows. Additionally, the camera is able to stay on all the time, giving the officer a better view of what happening behind him or her.

The technology is designed to keep officers more safe, especially when they’re on solo patrol. As the Associated Press notes, the idea for Surveillance Mode came when Ford engineer Randy Freiburger found himself alone in a car while on a ride-along with a police office in Los Angeles. When the officer needed to leave Freiburger alone in the car to pursue a suspect, a second person began to approach the vehicle. “Unfortunately, there are people with bad intentions who sneak up on police officers,” he said in Ford’s press release. The company says the feature is available on its 2014 models.