Not being a LEO I can't speak from my own personal experiences on patrol... but I train with LEO's 4 times a week so have some insight into what the guys I've seen around my area do... basically on the training field the ignition is always on, the back seat of their Tahoe or Crown Vic is caged in aluminum for the dogs by American Aluminum, Inc., n their hoods are up to keep everything under the hood cooler too since Florida's hot as hell. I don't remember if they have something to keep the ignition on without a key in there, but I assume they do.
Now, personally, I just got the Chilly Dog system installed this morning because I am paranoid about my dogs having problems in the Florida heat, I'm out there training longer than the LEO's are since I'm the one running around in the bite suit or being educated by the trainer as to what I should be doing with "a dog like this", but they obviously also have their patrols so get more vehicle-time than I do.... not sure how often the vehicles are left unattended or what length of time... but anyway. The system I installed (and I had a thread about this going not long ago) is something used by some (many? I don't know) departments.... has the following features:
- Auto start the vehicle if interior temp gets over 79 degrees (programmable temp) and runs for either 12, 24 or 60 minutes
- If something fails and the interior doesn't cool down, at 96 degrees (also programmable temp, I wanna set it to 92 degrees or maybe 90) the horn sounds, the windows drop and a remote pager beeps and vibrates up to a mile range... if you go out of range with the pager then the pager also alerts saying you lost signal to the vehicle
- Special switch that lets you keep the engine running (for 12, 24 or 60 minutes) after pulling out the key so you don't have to wait for the temp to creep up before the engine starts again, useful for short stops running into a store without turning off the car. If the vehicle isn't running already, then pushing the button starts the vehicle (for 12, 24 or 60 minutes) without needing the key. Obviously to shift gears you need to push the brake, if the brake is depressed without a key in the ignition (attempted theft) then the engine dies.
I've tested the system out n I love it -- www.ICCubed.net is where I got it, but from what I'm told by other LEO's is that some departments are reluctant to spend $1000 per vehicle to have something like that implemented, so go with cheaper options that basically keep the engine permanently on with no failsafes if the engine were to die.
I am covered in every situation except for the car battery dying -- n in theory if the car battery is totally 100% dead then the pager I carry on my belt will alert me that it's no longer receiving a signal from the vehicle. I think $1000 is a small price to pay for the almost guaranteed welfare of a K9, but I'm not up to speed on department budgets and politics lol. I know if I were a k9 officer I would install a system like this in my veicle out of my own pocket if I had to -- but, I'm not a LEO, n I still installed a system like that outta my own pocket
Now, personally, I just got the Chilly Dog system installed this morning because I am paranoid about my dogs having problems in the Florida heat, I'm out there training longer than the LEO's are since I'm the one running around in the bite suit or being educated by the trainer as to what I should be doing with "a dog like this", but they obviously also have their patrols so get more vehicle-time than I do.... not sure how often the vehicles are left unattended or what length of time... but anyway. The system I installed (and I had a thread about this going not long ago) is something used by some (many? I don't know) departments.... has the following features:
- Auto start the vehicle if interior temp gets over 79 degrees (programmable temp) and runs for either 12, 24 or 60 minutes
- If something fails and the interior doesn't cool down, at 96 degrees (also programmable temp, I wanna set it to 92 degrees or maybe 90) the horn sounds, the windows drop and a remote pager beeps and vibrates up to a mile range... if you go out of range with the pager then the pager also alerts saying you lost signal to the vehicle
- Special switch that lets you keep the engine running (for 12, 24 or 60 minutes) after pulling out the key so you don't have to wait for the temp to creep up before the engine starts again, useful for short stops running into a store without turning off the car. If the vehicle isn't running already, then pushing the button starts the vehicle (for 12, 24 or 60 minutes) without needing the key. Obviously to shift gears you need to push the brake, if the brake is depressed without a key in the ignition (attempted theft) then the engine dies.
I've tested the system out n I love it -- www.ICCubed.net is where I got it, but from what I'm told by other LEO's is that some departments are reluctant to spend $1000 per vehicle to have something like that implemented, so go with cheaper options that basically keep the engine permanently on with no failsafes if the engine were to die.
I am covered in every situation except for the car battery dying -- n in theory if the car battery is totally 100% dead then the pager I carry on my belt will alert me that it's no longer receiving a signal from the vehicle. I think $1000 is a small price to pay for the almost guaranteed welfare of a K9, but I'm not up to speed on department budgets and politics lol. I know if I were a k9 officer I would install a system like this in my veicle out of my own pocket if I had to -- but, I'm not a LEO, n I still installed a system like that outta my own pocket
