Abington police hope removing window tint will increase transparency

ABINGTON, Mass. — A local police department is going with a new look for its cruisers, hoping it will lead to better community policing.

The Abington Police Department is removing tint from some of the windows on its cruisers, because the department says tinted windows are counterproductive to what they're trying to do.

As Sgt. Shawn McCollem heads out, he feels he'll likely have more interaction with the public.

"We're actually a person as opposed to just a car driving by. You're actually a real person," McCollem said.

Sgt. McCollem's patrol car is getting a makeover, along with Abington's six other police cruisers.

"Even the kids would tell us, you didn't know who was in the cruiser," Chief David Majenski said. "Somebody would wave to somebody, they couldn't actually see who the officer was."

Reactions like that led Chief Majenksi to remove tinting from the front windows of his department's patrol cars.

The dark windows became a safety issue for his officers -- especially since two-thirds of them work in the dark. At night, the tinted windows acted like a mirror inside the car.

"It makes it so you can't see out, so you actually wouldn't be able to see out whether you were driving, going around a corner or looking for a suspect or whatever you're looking at -- makes it much more difficult," Chief Majenski said.

So far, the no-tint windows are getting high marks from officers.

"I worked midnights for a long time, that can be an issue," Sgt. McCollem said. "You actually can't see what's going on, so you have to roll down the windows to see what's going on, so I actually like the no-tint."

The rear windows, however, will remain tinted to protect the identity of a suspect in custody.

Cox Media Group