(March 21, 2008)

BEEVILLE--If you get pulled over by Beeville Police, you might see a new siren system and lights on the patrol cars. It's part of a new state of the art technology city leaders have invested in.

Police have some new tools for their patrol cars in Beeville. Officers said it's aimed at making their jobs safer and saving money for the city.

Beeville drivers may not be accustomed to this new siren system. It's called the Tumbler and was made by a company called Hot Pursuits out of Tynan. When you hear it, the siren is very loud and vibrates like an earthquake to get your attention.

"With this new rumbler, they'll not only hear it, but they feel it so they'll definitely know something is behind them," said Joe Trevino, who is the Beeville Police Chief. 

We put the rumbler to a test. We had a Beeville Police officer demonstrate how it works with this bottle of water. Take a look at how the water moves during the traffic stop.

"I activate this rumbler and basically everybody stops and moves out of the way and it's a lot safer for us going through intersections," said Sgt. Richard Cantu Jr. of the Beeville Police Department. 

These police cars also have new patrol lights on the cruisers. Officers said the lights are brighter and armed with directional signals.

"With the directional arrow, people start moving over a block away and that's good for our officers because of course some officers get hit," Sgt. Cantu said.  

The police department also bought some bars to put in the back of the patrol cruisers. The reason so prisoners won't be able to kick out the windows. Police commanders said they expect by putting in these new bars it will save them some money.

"We were having a problem with people kicking out windows," said Chief Trevino. "These bars will pay for themselves. If people kick them, of course there not going to kick out the window. If anything it will hurt their feet."

Officers believe these new additions will make their job easier to respond to emergency calls and keep the public safe.

--Manuel De La Rosa, Area 3 News, mdelarosa@kiiitv.com