Danville, Virginia: Police opening car hoods to block their own dash cams.

well, you all will be happy to know, they're gonna stop leaving their hoods open...

A community member shared a Facebook post asking why Danville officers opened the hoods of their cars while responding to a call.

We spoke with community members who were concerned about the hoods blocking the dash camera.

We also asked the Danville Police Department about those concerns.

They say officers started doing this to cool down the cars because electrical parts were melting.

"It wouldn't be unusual for it to get so hot, it will melt this piece or that piece," Danville Police Department Lieutenant Mike Wallace explained.

Lieutenant Mike Wallace of the Danville Police Department says the heat has damaged 10 cars.

That's cost the department over $16,000 for repairs just this year.

"You can actually feel some of the heat coming through here now, the car's been sitting for a little while but you can feel a little heat coming out of it," Wallace said.

Some of the newer cars have hood vents but Wallace says that's not a perfect fix.

www.wdbj7.com...

of course, it's starting to cool down now, so they wouldn't be able to use that excuse much longer anyways....

here is a little more info,

from 2013,

Cooling Solutions for Impala The 2013 Impala 9C1 and 9C3 are straight carryovers from the 2012 model. The 2012 Impalas received a new 302 hp, 3.6L V6 and a new 6-speed trans. That is over 70 hp more and two more trans gears. Also new for 2012 was police-tuned electronic stability control. The 2013 model year is the last for the 9C1 and 9C3 police package Impalas. On the topic of the heat of Tucson, GM Fleet gave an update on Impala 9C1 cooling issues. First, the cooling fan problem. Electric relays that control the fan motors were originally mounted under hood in a black box — without ventilation. Under hot ambient conditions during periods of extended idling, the fan relays would overheat and fail. This shut off power to the electric radiator fans. GM fixed this two ways. First, the relay was upgraded to a heavier duty circuit. Second, the relays were moved to the cowl, away from the under hood area, where it is both cooler and ventilated. The second cooling issue is the HVAC that overheats at idle under hot ambient conditions, overloads and shuts off. The fix was to get more air into the condenser coils, which keeps the whole system cooler. Again, two solutions: One is a higher watt electric fan that forces air across the condenser. It was bumped up from 225 watts to 300 watts. The other is a baffle redesign. The baffle that moves air into the condenser was revised, including the elimination of any air gaps. With the new baffle, all the forced air does indeed cross the HVAC cooling condenser.
Update: GM Law Enforcement Product Council

so how did they circumvent overheating of relays before the upgrade, simplest ways turn it off or open the hood.

also from 2005 more for the AC of K-9 units. also as mandroid said, but as i and Shmarock said.

Police Fleet Magazine said recently that an hour of idle is equivalent to 30 miles of drive time on the motor.

Ford also recently commented on the raised hood issue. Ford said that raising the hood does dissipate heat BUT it defeats the cooling design of the car and breaks the vacuum that draws air across the radiator to cool the motor. They suggested leaving the hood down and pointed to Las Vegas PD who puts a set of louvers in the hood of each K9 car to help with heat build-up

.
Car Idling? Real Police Blog

a company that markets the hood louvers to Law Enforcement. look at the whole page they are not just putting them on k-9 units.

The best way to cool hot engines!
.Desert tested and used by the U.S. Border Patrol.
.“PHENOMENAL…a 47° underhood temperature drop!!!” .
“26 degree drop on the engine’s temperature gauge.”
“They do the job…they cool it right down.”
“The engine is much cooler. Thanks for a product that REALLY works!”
Run Cool Hood Louvers

whats the purpose for louvers? to dissipate heat.

so as i said overheating in modern police vehicles has been and is a problem. and is being addressed in modern police vehicles.
and is not just a urban myth.

Not even sure why this is an issue. They are parked along the side of the street. Thus isn't a traffic stop what's the dash cam supposed to see exactly the people shoping. Who cares if they put the hood up when the vehike is parked. Seems a little stupid since that's something you used to have to do. But that just yells me they have some very old people on thier police force since most cars since the 90s you just don't do that.

a reply to: gladtobehere

Any police caught doing this should immediately turn in their badge and be shown the door. However, we really don't know if this is really what this photo is depicting.

so this didnt seem to be a problem in mid July or early August when the heatwave was astronomical...but after a few recent events, equipment overheat...

i believe it.


eta /sarc

a reply to: odzeandennz

so this didnt seem to be a problem in mid July or early August when the heatwave was astronomical...but after a few recent events, equipment overheat... i believe it.

actually the photo was taken on 24 August 2016, Shamrock posted a link from snopes about it on page one.

after rereading the snopes link i came across this.

on the return email to snopes,

The problems are well known to Chevrolet. May I suggest contacting Chevrolet directly and demanding a remedy and retrofitting of the correction at their expense.

and just below that

Officers on police message boards in 2005 described lifting the hoods of their units to (among other reasons) ensure the safety of department canines during lengthy stops on hot days, a circumstance also mentioned in a River City TV interview with Danville Police about the social media controversy:

and at least one can be id''ed as a chevy, and i dare say the one in the photo with the SUV is a chevy, i can't say that the SUV to many of the out there and i don't pay that much attention to them. but i wouldn't be surprised if it was seeing how almost all of the systems repeat from model to model. ie ac. fuel, blower relays and fuses under the hood mounted on firewall or fenderwell.


also this recall which lead to the recall of 119,000 civilian vehicles for wiring harness failure.

"The conditions tend to occur when police vehicles are exposed to severe police duty vehicle cycles for an extended period of time including long durations of high speed, evasive driving when used as training vehicles for police forces and extended idling," said David Dillon, head of product investigation and campaigns for Chrysler Group, in the release. "We will continue to monitor the retail fleet for any occurrence of this condition beyond police vehicles."
Chrysler recalls 9,688 Dodge Charger police vehicles

so all of the big 3 have had and admit that heat is a problem in modern police vehicles

originally posted by: Shamrock6
a reply to: MisterSpock

Do you own cars that have to run a computer and printer, emergency lights, and a radio along with all the standard electronics that your vehicle has?

Do you frequently leave your vehicle running on the side of the road for extended periods of time?

So let me guess you use vehicles that cannot cope with the stress of being a cop, you use computer systems that cannot handle the information and you use cameras that just seem to fail when they are needed most.....

The picture you are painting is that LE is pretty much retarded...you cannot even with the funding you receive create and implement a system that is functional and actually works......

Tell me did you use the same retards that were used to implement obamocare ?

This is really sad....this is why people like myself believe that you are full of #........

I would really like it if you could show me where i got it all wrong if you can...!

a reply to: hopenotfeariswhatweneed

That's not the picture I've painted, it's your personal bias that you've slapped some paint on and said it's the picture I painted. How you got anything you said out of the fact that law enforcement vehicles typically run more equipment than civilian vehicles do is purely your own doing.

There may be some retardation here, but not on my part and not on the part of non-sentient vehicles.

a reply to: Shamrock6

Fair call...i may have embellished a little

On a serious note...how hard is it to run an extra deep cycle battery to run all of the extras that are somehow too difficult to run....perhaps the force could use some tips from seasoned campers on how to run their systems

a reply to: hopenotfeariswhatweneed

No clue, really. I'm no mechanic, as I said before. Can't even tell you the difference between a standard battery and a heavy duty one.

originally posted by: Shamrock6
a reply to: hopenotfeariswhatweneed

No clue, really. I'm no mechanic, as I said before. Can't even tell you the difference between a standard battery and a heavy duty one.

Well all these extra systems are run off a battery...the engine does not need to be running so to use the open bonnet as an reason to why the car is running hot is well...criminal...and that is being generous...

a reply to: hopenotfeariswhatweneed

Well all these extra systems are run off a battery...the engine does not need to be running so to use the open bonnet as an reason to why the car is running hot is well...criminal...and that is being generous...

what do you think keeps the battery charged up? the alternator. what turns the alternator? the engine.
duhhh.

also most of a cars electronics run off the alternators voltage and current. in older chevy's you could disconnect the battery and the vehicle would still run. can't do that now days as the circuit includes the battery. also when the load in the alternator becomes to great the battery supplies extra current

Statement from the Danville, VA, official website:

Danville, VA Police Department Media Releases

Posted on: September 26, 2016
09-26-16 Danville Police Department Responds to Citizen Concerns

The Danville Police Department today discontinued the practice of raising the hood on patrol vehicles because of concerns from citizens that raising the hoods prevented the in-car camera from recording a police/citizen interaction.

The practice of raising hoods was a temporary remedy for heat damage to electronic components in police cars that occurred during extreme heat. The hoods were raised when the vehicles were idling for extended periods of time.

In an effort to build community trust and be more transparent, the Danville Police Department has used in-car video equipment for more than a decade. In addition, the Police Department adopted the use of body worn cameras for officers over four years ago.

In August, police began raising hoods on vehicles as a temporary remedy to ongoing issues with heat damage to electronic components. In the last six months, the Danville Police Department spent $16,263.85 for heat related repairs on patrol vehicles.

Several steps were taken to alleviate the heat related damage. Cooling louvers were added to the vehicle hoods. An additive was used in the engine coolant system and hoods were raised to further vent the engine compartment.

The Police Department will continue to seek other remedies for the heat related damage.

Police Chief Philip Broadfoot said, “The Danville Police Department understands the community’s concerns and is committed to transparency in interactions with the public.”

Move on.

As for the bickering over whether or not a modern car can overheat, yes, it's possible, and does happen, as electric fans can only force so many CFM through the radiator before maxing out, and if that can't keep up with demands for cooling the coolant, which then cools the engine block, the car will overheat.

Electronics are also known for needing relatively cool temperatures to function properly and undamaged, so it's entirely possible (and apparently a fact, as noted in the above quote) that overheating engine bays could damage electronics.

Furthermore, fans have shrouds that create the "vacuum" that forces the air through the radiator--having the hood open or closed does not affect the forced air one bit, as the air is used to cool the coolant flowing through the radiator and ONLY the coolant flowing through the radiator, not the engine bay itself. Opening the hood would absolutely aid in the overall cooling effect of the engine bay as a whole.

And to whomever said that putting a lower-temp thermostat in would fix the problem...not even close. I used to believe that when I had my '66 Mustang and I lived in Bakersfield, California, where summertime isn't exactly non-electric-fan friendly on an old 289 4V engine. All it did was not really allow the engine to get to proper operating temperature and caused other problems. When I replace the 160-degree thermostat back to the 190-degree one, the engine ran better and the rise in temperature when in stop-and-go traffic was slower.

I miss that car.

originally posted by: hopenotfeariswhatweneed

originally posted by: Shamrock6
a reply to: hopenotfeariswhatweneed

No clue, really. I'm no mechanic, as I said before. Can't even tell you the difference between a standard battery and a heavy duty one.

Well all these extra systems are run off a battery...the engine does not need to be running so to use the open bonnet as an reason to why the car is running hot is well...criminal...and that is being generous...

Your post is disingenuous, and that's being generous. The attempt at star farming by trotting out the same tired old rhetoric is intellectually weak, and dishonest. At least one of the pictures, and probably both, has been proven to not be from a traffic stop. Trying to equate being misinformed about vehicles with criminality is just plain silly.

Well they are all Chevys and Fords. Maybe theyre all overheating or broken down?😯

a reply to: gladtobehere

simply fire them for public endangerment. The cameras are there as much for our safety as theirs. They are derelict in their duty to public and their own safety. Fired

a reply to: SlapMonkey

What a crock. If the car is experiencing this level of malfunction there would be a recall.

The incredible amount of effort put in to trying to turn this in to something it's not, both in this thread and the "source" material is laughable. As if there aren't enough issues to deal with already, the length people will go to in an effort to manufacture an issue is simply preposterous.