STOPAMBUSH MOTION SENSOR TECHNOLOGY FOR POLICE VEHICLES

WWW.STOPAMBUSH.COM BY KLOEE CIUPERGER

One night shift, Of cer Vasile Ciuperger was engrossed in writing up a report on his laptop in his police vehicle. Alone in a parking lot, he quickly realized the limitations to his situational awareness. From brightness of the screen and the focus diverted to the report, a civilian suddenly appeared at the front of his vehicle without him noticing the approach. While the man only needed directions, Ciuperger realized the vulnerability of cers face while working in their vehicles while on patrol. A few sketches and an evolved prototype later, he brought the patented StopAmbush to the market.

According to POLICE Magazine, “Police vehicles are magnets that attract all sorts of people’s attention, including those who want to nd an o cer to kill. Any tra c stop, whether involving motorists or pedestrians, will put o cers in the limelight and will expose them to possible ambushes or attacks.” e device has a 360-degree motion sensor that tracks motion within a 25-foot radius. StopAmbush consists of two motion sensors that sit on the roof of the o cer’s patrol vehicle. e motion sensor “pods” are about two inches wide and can be installed to the top of any police vehicle, whether it is a classic Crown Vic, an SUV, or a pick-up truck. Inside the vehicle, mounted to the sun visor on the driver side, is a compact display. With six arrows, when a sensor is triggered, the display lights up with an accompanying adjustable sound, signaling to the o cer when someone is coming toward them and from what direction they are approaching.

“ is device uses red arrows and beeping sounds to grab [the] o cer’s attention. You could have six people approaching you from six di erent directions, and you will have six arrows alerting you,” Ciuperger said. e display folds up and away, not hindering the o cer’s line of sight when not in use. e volume is adjustable and resets every time the device is used to ensure that an o cer does not forget to raise the volume again and misses an alert.

Mahoning Township Police Department in Pennsylvania has the units installed in their vehicles, in the department’s SUV and patrol cars.

“ e unit has the potential to keep o cers from harm’s way. It is such a simple unit and such a great idea to have it available. It is paramount,” said Mahoning Township O cer Matthew Gerst. e unit emits a high-pitched buzz to alert o cers of anyone near a patrol vehicle. Gerst said one of their o cers sitting along the highway was alerted by a nearby deer. “It picked up a deer behind the car,” he stated. “It shows that it works and is de nitely enough to get your attention,” he commented.

“With things going on today, we can’t be too safe. When you see a person walking to your car, it takes you by surprise,” Gerst said, adding the units “work fantastic.”

StopAmbush is an o cer’s second set of eyes. Ciuperger said that using the computer inside an o cer’s vehicle reduces the o cer’s line of vision, making them more vulnerable.

In July 2017, a New York City police o cer was shot and killed in an unprovoked attack while she was sitting in a marked police vehicle early in Bronx, New York. O cer Miosotis Familia was inside the large vehicle known as a mobile command post with her partner on duty at 12:30 a.m. when a gunman red through a window and shot Familia in the head. Familia, who was a 12-year NYPD veteran, was taken to a hospital in extremely critical condition and later died. Familia’s partner survived the attack. e city’s police commissioner called the shooting an assassination and in a statement, Attorney General Je Sessions said Familia was “unjustly targeted and murdered in a cowardly, unprovoked attack. is murder in cold blood is a tragedy, and sadly, it is the latest in a troubling series of attacks on police o cers over the past two years.” is attack was similar to the 2014 killings of two New York police o cers who were shot at point-blank range while sitting in a police car in Brooklyn. In 2016 in the suburb of Urbandale, right outside Des Moines, Iowa, at 1 a.m., an Urbandale police o cer was fatally shot sitting alone in his patrol vehicle. e o cer was 24-year-old Justin Martin. Minutes later, o cers found a Des Moines police o cer who had also been shot in his squad car at an intersection in the city. e wounded o cer was transported to a local hospital where he died. e o cer was 39-year-old Sgt. Anthony “Tony” Beminio, who had been with the Des Moines Police Department since 2005.

“In all appearances, it looks just like that, the o cers were ambushed,” Sgt. Paul Parizek of the Des Moines Police Department said at a press conference. “It doesn’t look like there was any interaction between these o cers and whoever the coward is who shot them while they sat in their cars.”

In response to the Brooklyn o cer ambushes, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said, “It’s clear that this was an assassination. ese o cers were shot execution-style, a particularly despicable act, which goes to the heart of our society and our democracy.”

Working on paperwork inside the patrol car has the average police o cer with their back turned to the unknown whether it be day or night. To complicate matters, the o cer’s night vision is non-existent because staring at the computer screen severely compromises visual awareness. StopAmbush asks the question, “Who is watching your back?” and o ers the lookout o cers need in a time where o cers are increasingly becoming targets. It allows a police o cer to be aware of their situation and react. ose precious few seconds can be the di erence

between an ambush and an o cer’s safety.

“Seeing some of the senseless killings of police o cers throughout [the] country lately, I think my product will make a big di erence possibly between someone going home at the end of their shift,” said Ciuperger. is one-of-a-kind tool was invented by a real police o cer for police o cers. e engineering was tailored to carefully accommodate the tactical needs of an o cer. While other sensor products for vehicles exist, none of them o er what StopAmbush does. e sensors’ range and unique design create an umbrella-like protection over the entire vehicle. It is compact, with a focus on simplicity in its design. e product is also easily installed, taking an average of 45 minutes for eet installers to mount and plug into a car or SUV. In 2020, StopAmbush received a patent for its product. It is adaptable to di erent types of vehicles and uses passive infrared technology to detect motion and trigger perimeter alerts. It is the only product on the market providing 360-degree coverage. e perimeter alerts trigger a directional visual and audio alert system on demand with the push of a button. StopAmbush was created to protect the protectors.

Kloee Ciuperger is the current Marketing Director at StopAmbush. She can be reached at 561779-5515. For questions or feedback, she can be reached at 561-779-5515 or stopambush@ gmail.com. To learn more, visit www.stopambush.com.