I feel it will be faster, but we may never know. I think they did that to make the center area less cluttered. Notice only push button start. The officer can just shift the car to Park and walk out. Some vehicles can automatically (after a few minutes) shut off, which no doubt they may implement in these police vehicles. And yes, theoretically, it can still be stolen, but once its shuts off/runs out of fuel, then that's it, it can't be start-up again without the keyfob.