Engineers, software specialists and police officers are conducting research into automated driving at the LZPD NRW. In our laboratory, the only one of its kind in Germany, the North Rhine-Westphalian police are working on the patrol car of the future. The KoMoD-Polizei (Cooperative Mobility in the Digital Test Field Düsseldorf) project is all about automated and networked driving and its significance for the work of the police. What is developed can also be tested: on sections of the A57 and A52 federal highways as well as on a test field in the city of Düsseldorf.
In this way, traffic and road safety as well as the needs of the police can be taken into account right from the start. Thomas Roosen, Head of the LZPD, says: "As a police force, it is important to actively follow the technical development of automotive IT driven by industry and research in order to be able to assess the potential impact on police work at an early stage. That is why we are already involved as an associated partner in the test field for fully automated driving - KoMoDnext - funded by the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure."
Since March 2021, the North Rhine-Westphalian police have been an associate member of the KoMoDnext cooperation association, the Cooperative Test Bed for Mobility in Düsseldorf. Project partners include the Düsseldorf Traffic Control Center, RWTH Aachen University, the German Aerospace Center and the companies Vodafone, Siemens, ZF Friedrichshafen and Swarco with their mobility and digital expertise. As an associated partner, the police can contribute their own specialist expertise to the development and testing of the systems at an early stage. At the same time, tactical and investigative-strategic starting points can be created for the use of the technologies both for averting danger and for criminal prosecution. A further aim is to increase the safety of the police and road users.
Among other things, the project is researching how the traffic infrastructure can be influenced for the police in order to make operations safer for both the police and all other road users. In a few years, it could be possible to switch traffic lights to green for a police operation, stop streetcars and buses and inform drivers of the operation within seconds via their display.