INFO Draper, UT - Draper Police to Begin Using All Blue Lights

[sdrawkcaB]

Draper Police are going to be the first in the State of Utah to switch to all blue lighting, going away from the statewide norm of red and blue lighting.

According to Draper Police, several studies have shown blue lights are more conspicuous than red light especially at night. They say being more visible is a significant safety enhancement for officers.

“We believe anything that enhances officer safety is of value”, said Draper Police Chief John Eining.

To help educate the public, police say they will phase in all blue lights over time, starting with five vehicles this year.

Draper Police Department to use all blue light on police vehicles

DRAPER, Utah (ABC4 News) – The Draper Police Department will be going all blue lights on police vehicles instead of the traditional red and blue lights. Draper Police say they will be the fir…

www.abc4.com

 

[PY004]

I hate the blue lights. It blinds me at night.

 

[sdrawkcaB]

I hate the blue lights. It blinds me at night.

I can definitely see your point there. The one good thing is that from a CM standpoint, it makes it easier to see the officers from further away. It doesn't do us any good if they're hiding and not running their lights, but maybe someone gets a save from seeing the blue lights far off as an officer finishes up an ongoing traffic stop.

 

[PY004]

I can definitely see your point there. The one good thing is that from a CM standpoint, it makes it easier to see the officers from further away. It doesn't do us any good if they're hiding and not running their lights, but maybe someone gets a save from seeing the blue lights far off as an officer finishes up an ongoing traffic stop.

I like the NYPD colors. Red and white at the front, red white and blue at the rear. It doesn't kill your vision as much.

 

[fireparamed]

It was interesting to read the study that was referenced in the article by the news station that stated that Red is more viable during the day and that was why the Red Blue combo was supported as the industry standard!

To me, the biggest tell off the whole story was the officer starting it was also a “branding issue” to set Draper apart from other departments. Whatever.

On a related note, most of the new ambulances are switching their brake lights to high intensity LED lights that are right at eye level and they are WAY too bright for safety. I’m waiting to hear the first accident that results from a driver blinded behind an ambulance that can’t see where to drive when the ambo hits the brake.

 

[V1Jake]

What will happen to volunteer fire fighter lights? Don't they use blue and EMS green?

 

[fireparamed]

There is no provision in Utah for volunteer lights at all.

 

[sdrawkcaB]

To me, the biggest tell off the whole story was the officer starting it was also a “branding issue” to set Draper apart from other departments. Whatever.

It's definitely kind of funny to see how many of these cities South West of SLC are getting overly excited to leave SLC Unified PD and form their own police department. Herriman, Riverton, Cottonwood Heights, and South Jordan (were they ever in UPD?).

I'm not a fan of Herriman's new slicktops. In my opinion, they're much more dangerous as the visor light bars are more difficult to see off-axis. Imagine a slick top police vehicle approaching a busy intersection with his lights flashing... it'd be much more difficult to see that vehicle approaching than if it had a full light bar up top. If they cut the intersection running lights and sirens, I think there is a greater likelihood that a motorist may not notice them if approaching from a perpendicular direction of travel into the intersection. This means accidents and injuries.

 

[fireparamed]

It's definitely kind of funny to see how many of these cities South West of SLC are getting overly excited to leave SLC Unified PD and form their own police department. Herriman, Riverton, Cottonwood Heights, and South Jordan (were they ever in UPD?).

I'm not a fan of Herriman's new slicktops. In my opinion, they're much more dangerous as the visor light bars are more difficult to see off-axis. Imagine a slick top police vehicle approaching a busy intersection with his lights flashing... it'd be much more difficult to see that vehicle approaching than if it had a full light bar up top. If they cut the intersection running lights and sirens, I think there is a greater likelihood that a motorist may not notice them if approaching from a perpendicular direction of travel into the intersection. This means accidents and injuries.

Fire and EMS are doing everything in their power to be more visible with lights and reflective striping and police are doing more and more to be sneakier with slick tops and ghost cars.

It’s a source of contention between me and my LEO friends when we talk. I remind them that being visible is a deterrent. They try to explain that they catch more people doing naughty things because they didn’t see them coming. I remind them that prevention is better than punishment.

 

[V1Jake]

There is no provision in Utah for volunteer lights at all.

Well I meant in general if all departments across the county start using only blue lights

 

[sdrawkcaB]

It’s a source of contention between me and my LEO friends when we talk. I remind them that being visible is a deterrent. They try to explain that they catch more people doing naughty things because they didn’t see them coming. I remind them that prevention is better than punishment.

Exactly. It's like they want to catch them misbehaving, but that means hoping that people will do something wrong to begin with. I agree that deterrent is a lot of the purpose of police presence. When people see a trooper on the interstate, they behave better. I can't recall ever seeing any aggressive driving or road rage that ever happened when in the pack following a trooper ahead.

I think the best argument against the slick tops is "officer safety". They're always touting that phrase and always saying how important it is to enhance officer safety, well, I think it's time for some state sponsored studies about lighting visibility of slick tops vs. full 360 degree light bars. I can already tell you which ones I'll see better from a perpendicular approach.

 

[RRJ]

When I was a youngster growing up in Idaho, it seemed everything around me was blue. The city cops had blue strobes, the ISP had blue and white, and the county had blue bars. They even had an older car they called “The Mayflower” that had a single round housing with rotating blue lights and a siren mounted next to it on the roof. I could see that one coming from a mile away. I guess they’re going back to those days.

As an FYI, I did a non scientific experiment to see what color on my uniden was most stealth at night through tinted windows. My son and I agreed that red was hardest to see at distances of about two car lengths away or more. Blue was easier. I’m not sure this related at because it was through tint but there could be some sort of correlation.

 

[commonc3nts]

Only blue lights just seems like a bad idea as people may not stop since it wont seem like a real cop.
There is no logic to have anything but red and blue lights.