Ford Develops New Way Of Tracking Police Actions To Save Lives & Boost Public Confidence

America's police have an image problem.

As kids, many of us are introduced to Officer Friendly, and we're taught that police are forces for good. But as we get older, we read headlines about racial profiling, we see officers set up speed traps, we hear about entire departments outsourcing traffic tickets to third-party camera operators, and we begin to question what we've learned.

READ: Eight Vehicles That Cost Less To Own As Hybrids

You could argue that our views on the police began to shift sometime in the 1950s and 60s, when broadcasts of Andy Griffith were followed by newscasts showing officers violently shutting down protests in favor of civil rights and against the Vietnam War. Mistrust of the police bubbled over again a couple of months ago in Ferguson, Missouri, when a tragic shooting followed by the police department's clumsy, ill-thought-out response launched weeks of riots that continue to this day.

ENTER FORD

Ford makes a lot of police cars. And on newer versions of those cars, the automaker hopes that police departments will opt to include software it's developed to keep tabs on where officers travel, how fast they drive, and even whether they're wearing their seatbelts.