Summary
The threat of public safety vehicles being used by criminals or terrorists to commit violent acts is real. The problem is public safety vehicles are vulnerable to criminal activity and terrorist use because they do not routinely utilize security technology measures involving three core aspects: theft prevention, authentication to specific operators (authorized use), and ability to track and recover public safety vehicles that get into the wrong hands. Consequences from such acts create great risk for the publics safety, including significant injury and loss of human life, as well as exposure to financial liabilities in the form of lost equipment, damage to property, and lawsuit settlements. This thesis provides a model solution to agencies for securing emergency response vehicles with engineering (SERVE). The SERVE model was developed by the author and provides a framework for implementing public safety vehicle security enhancements taking the complex interaction between technological fusion, vehicle system integration and end user interface design into account. Tier ITheft Prevention, Tier IIAuthorized Use, Tier IIITracking and Recovery can be implemented in stages, allowing agencies to utilize the technologies based on budgetary restraints and allocation of resources. Lastly, Tier IVHuman Machine Interface emphasizes the importance of the human machine interface by taking into account how technologies and operators communicate to ensure critical task proficiency is not disrupted.