Episode
Modern Marvels: Police Pursuit
Overview
Join us for a high-speed look at police pursuits in an adrenaline-filled hour focused on the history and evolution of the technologies that give law enforcement the upper hand when pursuing bad guys. From the days of chasing moonshine runners in “hopped up” vehicles during Prohibition to the most recent 100-mph freeway chases, patrol cars have undergone many advances. We also examine how communications have improved, the use of airborne resources, and pursuit on the high seas.
Details
- Series
- Modern Marvels
- Season
- Season 11
- Episode
- Episode 43
- Air date
- 2004-09-22
- Runtime
- 44 min
Episode context
Police Pursuit is Episode 43 in Season 11 of Modern Marvels. It aired on 2004-09-22. The runtime is 44 min.
Previous / Next
Episode 42: St. Lawrence Tech
Episode 44: SOS Tech
A look at the technology that changed the serious game of Search and Rescue forever. At the mouth of Oregon’s Columbia River, we visit the Coast Guard’s Motor Lifeboat School, the training ground for High Surf Rescue. Then, we trace the evolution of life-saving technology at sea, and learn why the EPIRP (Emergency Position Indication Radio Beacon) is the pleasure boater’s greatest friend. And we take a look at how the U.S. Navy deals with accidents classified as “Man Overboard” in the 21st century.
More episodes from this season
Episode 41: Guns of WWII
Episode 45: More of the World's Biggest Machines
The ultimate celebration of outsized equipment returns for a second sweep through a world where size is everything.
Episode 40: St. Lawrence Seaway
The St. Lawrence Seaway is a monumental stairway in water, lifting massive ships hundreds of feet over thousands of miles. It’s the world’s longest inland waterway, a system of rivers, lakes, canals, dams, and locks that stretches 2,400 miles. And it’s one of the greatest engineering triumphs of the 20th century, pulled off against the violence of raging water and extreme winter. An essential part of the commercial infrastructure of the US and Canada, this complex system provides direct access from the Atlantic to North America’s heartland, enabling ships packed with trade to stop at any one its 65 ports–from Montreal to Duluth. From the 16th century, when French explorer Jacques Cartier searched for the legendary Northwest Passage, to the modern Seaway, built in the 1950s, we highlight the incredible engineering feats that went into creating the waterway.
Episode 46: Firefighting: The Arson Detectives
Meet crime fighters who take on fiery killers. In Houston, visit the site of a suspicious fire with Fire Marshall Lalo Torres as he turns ashes into evidence. Former A.T.F. head Richard Garner explains motives behind the recent church fires. And at the California Criminalists Institute, John DeHaan trains special arson dogs.
Episode 39: The Sears Tower
Some 23,000 people walk through the Sears Tower’s domed entrances daily. 104 elevators (some double-decker), moving at speeds up to 1,600 feet per minute, transport workers and visitors to the 110 floors of North America’s tallest building. Sears, Roebuck and Company began as a small mail-order business in Chicago, and by 1960, had grown into the biggest global retailer. Sears Chairman Gordon Metcalf proposed bringing the company under one roof to create the world’s largest headquarters. Join us for a look at this pioneering building that remains a symbol of the future and a tribute to the company that dreamt big enough to build it!
Episode 47: Guns of Israel
One of the youngest and smallest nations, Israel has produced some of the world’s fiercest weapons. In 1952, shortly after its War of Independence, Israel unleashed the Uzi…a submachine gun that set the standard for nearly 50 years. Between 1950 and 1980, Israel fought three wars, and superior weapons became a matter of survival. We examine the Negev Machine Gun and the Galil Assault Rifle, designed to survive the rigors of desert warfare, and the Tavor 21, a lightweight 21st-century assault rifle.
Episode 38: Building a Skyscraper: The Arteries
For two years, we’ve followed the construction of the new California Department of Transportation headquarters in LA to learn the architectural, structural, and mechanical challenges of building mega-skyscrapers. In hour four, as we’re installing the veins and arteries of the building and wrapping up construction on CalTrans, we learn how development of electricity and indoor plumbing made skyscrapers possible–imagine needing to take an elevator down 70 stories to use the privy behind the building!
Episode 48: Engineering Disasters 8
Join us for a devastating but enlightening hour as we delve into complex and often-tragic engineering failures that have shaped our world. Five dramatic events unfold as we discover the causes of: the 1983 collapse of New England’s Mianus Bridge; the sinking of the EM Ocean Ranger /EM offshore oilrig in 1982; the crash of a Learjet 35 private plane carrying pro-golfer Payne Stewart in 1999; the 19th-century failure of South Fork Dam that resulted in the flooding of Johnstown, Pennsylvania; and the 1988 PEPCON (Pacific Engineering Production Company of Nevada) jet fuel plant explosion.
Episode 37: Building a Skyscraper: The Human Environment
In hour three of our crash course on mega-skyscraper construction, we learn about the human element and development of systems that make us comfortable. And we’ll see the evolution from freight hoists to today’s fastest high-speed pressurized elevators and, on the cooler side, the evolution from ice refrigeration to 3,000-ton chillers. We meet Bobby, the manlift operator and the building site’s standup comedian, and travel to Taiwan to visit the world’s fastest elevators in the TAIPEI 101.
Episode 49: Harvesting
Cutting, digging, picking, stripping, shaking, and raking–whatever the crop, there's a custom machine to harvest it. It all began with handpicking and today it's often one man and one machine harvesting hundreds of acres in a single day. The farmer may even get a little help from satellites. Far above the earth, high-resolution photography is giving the grower more opportunities to cut costs and maximize the harvest. From the debut of the sickle in ancient Egypt to McCormick's famous Reaper to the field of ergonomics that assists human harvesters, we'll dig into the past and future of the harvest.