Fort Lauderdale police roll out video-surveillance truck (with related video)

From the Sun-Sentinel: Instead of using undercover surveillance trucks to catch criminals, police in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., have dispatched a renovated armored truck in hopes of scaring the would-be thieves and felons.

The side of the vehicle, dubbed the Peacemaker, reads "Warning: You are under video surveillance." From the front bumper of the menacing vehicle, another sign taunts: "Whatcha gonna do when we come for you?" — the theme song of the TV show Cops.

In August, police got the first of their two Peacemakers after paying the Brinks company $10 for a discontinued armored bank truck. They retrofitted the vehicle with cameras that can stream live video back to headquarters. With its cameras hoisted on each bulletproof window, the truck can gather panoramic footage for up to 700 hours.

Last month the department added a second truck to its arsenal, converting a former SWAT vehicle into the second Peacemaker. Police park the unmanned trucks in front of the homes of suspected drug dealers and at crime-plagued street corners.