Police practice safely breaking car windows for DUI cases

Police practice safely breaking car windows for DUI cases

2026-10-08

When people driving under the influence refuse to get out of their car for an inspection, police officers may have to break the window to apprehend them. To help officers do this quickly and safely, police are training with a new window-breaking tool that can shatter glass with just light pressure.

Police officers pull over a car and demand the driver get out, but there’s no response. They approach the car and bang on the window, but still nothing, leaving them no choice but to break the glass.

- We should all stand here. It’s safer for us to stand in this position.

With this device, they can break the window with just one push.

Chen Chin-feng
Miaoli police head instructor
It’s automatic. You just grab it like this, put it right here, and push it in in one go.

Chang Yu-cheng
Police officer
We just need to push it down. If the first push isn’t enough, we can just use our palms to press down harder, and it shatters the window easily.

When police are pursuing people driving under the influence, the drivers often refuse to get out of the car. Breaking the window by force is hard, but this small device can do it quickly and safely.

- There’s a striker in the middle. You need to press it firmly against the surface, then push the whole thing down.

Chen Chin-feng
Miaoli police head instructor
We want our officers to be able to get drug-impaired drivers on the ground as quickly as possible, reducing the risk of them hitting something with the car.

Lin Ting-chun
Miaoli SWAT officer
It’s not only highly effective for SWAT officers during raids, but also makes it much easier for regular officers out on patrol to break windows efficiently.

Ye Yun-wei
Miaoli SWAT police officer
It’s much lighter and easier to carry, and it’s actually really strong. It’s a useful and convenient tool for ordinary people to use.

This tool makes breaking windows safer for police and the drivers they’re apprehending. Police are continuing to train using the device, but where do the extra windows come from?

There are piles and piles of old car windows at this glass recycling facility, which officers can use to practice breaking windows.

Voice of manager
Recycling facility
This piece is also from a driver’s side window. This one is higher grade. It’s made of two laminated panes of glass.

Most imported cars use laminated glass, which blocks light and noise. After learning that police officers need car windows for training, the facility donated 550 panes for them to use.

Chen Shao-wei
Recycling facility manager
I think it’s very meaningful. Especially considering they’re just trash, it’s a great idea to make the best use of resources.

Chen Chin-feng
Miaoli police head instructor
One piece can cost NT$500 to NT$1,000, because we need laminated glass rather than regular single-pane glass. We could have it cut at a glass shop, but the strength and resistance are completely different from the glass used in cars. We need the same kind of strength and resistance, so we need laminated glass.

Discarded glass has been repurposed to help police officers train. Laminated glass is especially strong, so officers need practice to master how to break it quickly and safely.

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