Police Light Bars: Lighting up a Police Car

Dec 2, 2011 by admin

Lighting up a police car is not as easy as it looks. In the old days, incandescent light bulbs, which give off a lot of heat, were used in combination with rotating half-mirrors. The assembly was inside a red or blue casing. As the half-mirror spun, the light passed through the casing and created the familiar alternating red and blue lights. As technology progressed, lights became more efficient, but the basic design remained the same for decades. The introduction of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) changed the design forever. Much less electricity could be used to produce a greater quantity of light.

LEDs also reduced the weight of the lights. Previously, the old design made them bulky and awkward, creating difficulties when driving in tight spaces. LEDs changed that by allowing lights to be mounted almost anywhere on the car. The light weight and small size of a set of LED police lights created new possibilities for placing lights on law enforcement vehicles. In particular, LEDs made police light bars possible. A light bar is a series of LED lights arranged in rows to form a rectangular bar. If the light bar is mounted on the front of the car, it powerfully illuminates everything in front of it.

Light bars can also be mounted on the top of the police car, which makes them even more difficult to ignore. When one of these devices lights up, everyone notices it immediately, giving the police officer the ability to do his job. The LED itself can be encased with the desired color, eliminating the need for bulky casings on the outside of the light. The LED saves so much electricity that more of them can be ran off the car battery. They also burn out less frequently, making them a wise choice from a financial point of view. LEDs are almost perfect for using them in police light bars.

The bars can even be mounted inside the radiator of a truck or car. This concealment factor makes them very useful to undercover officers or in unmarked vehicles. High-quality LED lights are not very expensive, allowing police departments to obtain them up at reasonable prices. As LED usage spreads, even the small savings from using less battery power and having to replace the lights less often will help cut costs and help police departments become more efficient. LED police light bars are the next generation of police lighting.