28 October 2009 - 10:00
Video: Police, camera, harpoon!
Friends of Top Gear, we need your help.
We've just been pointed in the direction of this hilarious YouTube video, which purports to demonstrate a piece of Finnish police technology dreamed up in the mid-1990s, and we want to know whether it's real... or a big massive spoof.
Spiked harpoons? Grapple hooks? Tear gas? It does all sound a bit... terrifying and incredibly dangerous, doesn't it?
Then again, the Finns are renowned for a somewhat cavalier attitude towards road safety. And, say, the welfare of the lower abdomens of potential car thieves. Or pedestrians.
Despite our best efforts to contact the Finnish authorities, we can't find out whether this was genuinely proposed as an addition to the Scandinavian police armoury. Anyone with further information should contact, er, us using those comment boxes below.
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Looks like somthing out of Mad Max
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I remember this footage on a 90s "Police Stop Action Camera Smile You're Nicked" type show... If it's a spoof, it's an old one...
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Anyone who steals another person's car should lose all human rights... so bring out the harpoon I say! Maybe the thieves would think twice if this were brought in!? Probably not though, they're too thick.
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This is rediculous, but it's real. I found an AP report from the summer of 1996 that was republished in newspapers here in the US. This is one copy: http://www.digest.net/bmw/archive/v5/msg02682.html
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A spoof unfortunately, though a big shame we could see that today. That would certainly be a good police car
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what if the criminals kidnapped somebody in their trunk ?
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I am from Finland and I can say that it's a spoof. I think it's from an old finnish tv show (looks like it), and altough it could work for real, it would be way too dangerous for real police officers to use it. It is also reported in some finnish news sites that "Finnish police harpoon video spreading in the internet", and it is confirmed as a spoof in the news sources as well.
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..wait until Jeremy Clarkson learns about this..
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I can see an addition to the top gear police car challenge coming on...
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I wish that was geniuane, when I was watching one of those 'Police, chase, camera' programs they mentioned a idiot who invented a stearing wheel with a BIG spike in the middle and they said that it would cut down the number of crashes, he he ; ) ... sorry I thought I mention something.
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I am from finland and i've never heard of it... Then again i'm from the south part of finland which really doesn't share too many ideas with the northern parts.. Anyways, this is a "nice" idea, but i think it needs furthur testing.. Clarkson, are you listening?
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Doesn't the music tell you it's a spoof? Beats the hell out of boudicias though...
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in 1996 the health and safety was no way near as severe so they probably could have done this
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This could work better than Clarkson's spike on wheel things
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i didn't know Jeremy Clarkson used to work for the finnish police!!
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This a complete and utter spoof but if it isnt OMG
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spoof definately!!!! jezzer would like it though.
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every police subaru and volvo should have one of these - would be big saving on fuel bills - no need to run across county following mad driver
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I live on Oulu, Finland and actually I remember seeing this one on local news paper Kaleva! They really were serious about this "invention". If I remember correctly the inventor really trid to sell this to the police hence the instruction video seen here. I think the dibelief was then the same as here today.
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they didnt quite think about the case of kidnapping did they, if theres some guy tied up in the boot, you want police sirens to be a sound of releif, not make the situation worse by harpooning the boot lid and ripping up the kidnappee and then knocking him out with the teargas
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I remember this. The marvellous invention was made by a finnish police officer mid 90's. They did demonstrate the invention in action in local TV show "Karpolla on Asiaa" and local papers here in finland back then. Can't remember if it was the video shown on the page. Fortunately it was only left to prototype state. No Officials anywhere in the world got interested actually taking the harpoon system into production. Sami from Oulu Finland
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Here's the article Oulu mentioned (it's in Finnish)It was written in 2004. Summary in English: policeman Markku Limingoja developed the harpoon in 1996 in his free time. The invention got worldwide attention at the time, however has not been mentioned since (until now of course). He eventually hired professionals to help him in working on the invention. One of the men who worked on it said it would not sell due to its looks. According to him, American police cars and bull bars on them were studied to help with the invention. Tests were done using cars running at over 100km an hour or 62 mph. The inventor had plans to sell the invention worldwide after founding a company. However, the device was tested in 1998 by the Finnish police and was rejected as a safe and practical method of stopping cars in comparison to already used spike strips. (NOTE:There is more detail on the design and development and technical details in the article than is described here).
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Her's the link to the article mentioned above: http://www.kaleva.fi/plus/index.cfm?j=427338
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I remember seeing somewhere ages ago that in South Africa they legalised blowtorches as a means of deterring car theives, which is more effective than loud beeps, though to be honest I was about 10 so I may have been mistaken about them legalising it...
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PetrolheadViper commented on this article
28 October 2009
Top Gear have told me to write on the comment box. Ima thwart them and not write. hehehehe...oh wait. Anyway harpoon gun would be so cool. Wish the health and safety nuts would allow them in England :(
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