A few weeks ago I went to a local eatery, only to find the parking lot quite full. Inside, the “Dutchess County Police Chiefs Association” occupied that area inside almost every restaurant reserved for large parties. Since a Google search yielded no clues, I’m guessing this group is more of an informal professional organization than anything else. Nevertheless, the group drove to the shindig in exactly the vehicles you’d expect them to, with a few conspicuous absences.
As soon as I entered the lot, I knew something was off. How often do you see several Chrysler 200 sedans in close proximity to one another? Just kidding, they’re actually somewhat common around here. By now you’re wondering why there aren’t any in this picture. That’s because they were out of the frame when I took these shots. Its never fun being outside when its 40 degrees and raining. Anyway, there were two 200’s to the left of the Dodge you see above.
My strong suspicion is that the previous generation Yukon is also driven by a police chief, but I can’t be entirely sure. Nearly all the cars had regular New York plates; only about two vehicles had special county designations. I’m guessing the police chiefs around here get to pick a fleet vehicle for themselves, or just use their own, private car.
The introductory picture up top contains our appetizers: two Malibu’s, two Tahoe’s, one Impala and one Silverado. Is it a coincidence they all decided to back in to their spots? I don’t think so.
Now for the main course. From left to right, we’ve got two Chevrolet Impala PPV’s (short for Police Pursuit Vehicle, GM’s fancy name for their patrol cars), a Chrysler 200, a Ford Police Interceptor Utility (Explorer), two Ford Fusions, two more Impalas, an eighth generation Impala, and a Tahoe SSV. I’m assuming the other cars belonged to civilians; it wasn’t a particularly busy day for the establishment, and the employees have their own lot on the other side of the building.
Do the two Fusions belong to local police departments? I’m saying yes, as the white example featured the telltale dog dish hubcaps and tinted windows normally associated with unmarked vehicles. The other Ford was an SE model equipped with alloy rims I’ve never seen on any retail model, so it likely belongs to a local P.D.
Now for the dessert: One more Police Interceptor Utility, another Impala PPV, a Dodge Charger, and a regular old Impala. Now what was left off the menu?
To me, the most notable absence in the group was the Taurus-based Police Interceptor. Its predecessor, the Crown Victoria based sedan, has all but vanished from the streets around here. That’s no surprise; the last time fleet buyers could purchase a Crown Vic was 2011. Locally, it seems the Taurus has also fallen out of favor, with the Explorer taking its place. I’m assuming police departments choose the crossover instead of the sedan for the same reasons regular shoppers do: vehicle height and cargo space.
Although the Caprice was absent from the parking lot, its hardly a surprise. Floor mounted shifters do not make good patrol vehicles. Another demerit is the lack of all wheel drive. Front and all wheel drive vehicles dominate this ad hoc fleet for a reason: if it snows and you’re in a Caprice, your chances of getting around town aggravation-free diminish significantly.
Last but not least, I bring you the tally of the vehicles presumed to be driven by the chiefs, with a question mark denoting the ones I’m not sure about.
Chrysler 200: 3
Dodge Charger: 2
Chevy Tahoe: 3
Chevy Impala: 6
Chevy Impala (8th generation): 1
Chevy Malibu (7th generation): 1?
Chevy Malibu (8th generation): 1?
Chevy Silverado: 1?
GMC Yukon: 1?
Ford Fusion: 2
Ford Interceptor Utility (Explorer): 2
In conclusion, your’re probably not going to see this many Impala sedans together unless you visit a Chevy dealership…or a police station.
Our police chief drives a Prius. But this is a college campus in California — not likely a representative sample.
The campus cops have retired the Crown Vics and now drive a mix of Explorers and Caprices.
The campus police at the university I work at has mostly Honda CR-V’s, with a Ridgeline for critical parking-cone-placement duties.
Back in the day when I was a student, they had a couple Geo Trackers, so I guess the CRV’s are an upgrade.
If pursuit isn’t required, the Prius probably makes an appealing cop car for the same reason it’s become the go-to taxi and sales rep’s car, which is that it’s probably the lowest cost-per-mile in high mileage service. Good interior space too, especially since they ditched the “flying bridge” console in the gen4. Officers may prefer something more macho-looking, but in the end it’s the taxpayers’ car not theirs.
It does look less third world than a regular parking lot full of toyota, honda, hyundai, blah blah blahs
When I chaperoned a middle school rec hall in the fall I asked the officer on duty about Haddonfield variety of police vehicles. I learned that the elimination of borough service centers means that they have no brand alliance. All police vehicles are serviced by a South Jersey mega dealership. We have everything in my town; Explorer, Tahoe, Taurus, SS, and Charger. The officer claimed he liked the handling, roomy interior and of course the acceleration of the Chevrolet SS patrol car but admitted that the Explorer was a good compromise.
Cheers, Michael
It’s an actual SS and not a Caprice PPV? That’s surprising, and seems spendy for a PD (base price $46k plus). Is it marked?
Brings to mind the fleet of ’04 Mercury Marauders that the Florida Highway Patrol had, but some of the funding for those was a private donation. (The Marauder was $35k in 2004, which is equivalent to about $44k in 2016 dollars.)
My mistake, he was referring to the Caprice PPV. I did confirm that he drove a V8. I went looking a few years ago for the price of a Caprice PPV and it was well under $30,000.
The California Highway Patrol, on which order many municipal (including my city department), local and county agencies piggyback their orders, specified a patrol vehicle which, in addition to the usual performance standards, could carry four six-foot-plus officers and their on-duty equipment, plus a specified weight of cargo. The Ford Taurus-based Interceptor, Chevrolet police package cars and Dodge Charger were all eliminated. The Ford Explorer-based Utility Interceptor was the low bid among the remaining contenders, which were all utility-vehicle based.
Our Chief’s unmarked Crown Vic was replaced by an unmarked Ford Utility Interceptor.
Neighboring cities, both larger, went their own way. In one direction are Ford Taurus-based Interceptors, replacing Ford Crown Victorias; in the other, Dodge Chargers which have been phased in as Crown Vics aged since 2007.
Our local department is switching over to the Taurus after a brief experiment with Chargers and Impalas. Apparently the former wasn’t roomy enough and had a harsh ride, while the latter posed some durability challenges.
Local RCMP detachment still has some Crown Vics, though they’re slowly being replaced by Taurus’. They also have a few F150s and an F250. Have seen Explorers in Brandon’s police, no Caprice’ anywhere, however. RWD not popular in Canada, I guess.
The Caprice isn’t available in Canada.
Good grief, the City of Cincinnati is running oodles of Crown Vics, some as old as 2005 vintage. They are white, and some have failing paint, so there are big blotches of gray e-coat or primer showing. Some have rusty fenders and doglegs too.
I am seeing more and more Explorers, very few Chargers and PPVs. Cincinnati also has a smattering of Expedition L’s and Toyota Highlanders.
With the Crown Vics aging out, it’s tougher to know if there’s a cop following me on the highway than it used to be…can’t tell by the shape of the lights any more.
Our local cops have Vauxhall Astra and Ford Focus, plus a few Mondeos and Peugeot 308s. They have Volvo V70 and BMW 5 Series for when they might actually have to chase someone, and you see some BMW X5s and Mitsubishi Shoguns too.
They don’t seem to be worried about floor-mounted shifters. I wonder if you can get a car without a floor-mounted shifter in Europe. (apart from vans and CUVs with 45 degree dash mounted thingies)
A Focus really wouldn’t work that well with a properly outfitted officer in the United States. Not enough room in the drivers seat with the gun belt on.
Explorers dominate around here save for the odd remaining Crown Vic, except for state police where I see quite a few PPVs. The Taurus sucks to get into or out of, the Vic blew it away in that aspect, so it’s no surprise the CUV is favored.
Omaha Police Dept. runs mostly Caprices and Explorer Interceptors, with some Crown Vics still running around (though I understand from a friend who’s an OPD officer they are being phased out over the next year or two). They do have some Tahoes and Chevy Silverados marked with “K9 Unit”.
Douglas County Sheriffs Dept. and the Nebraska State Patrol run Chargers and Explorers. Haven’t seen any of their old Crown Vics for some time, so they must’ve been phased out.
BTW….my OPD officer friend says they much prefer the Explorer over the Caprice for it’s much greater interior space and utility; the Caprice, although fast and good handling, is too small inside, made worse by all the cop equipment they have installed in there. Some of their Explorers have the 3.5L Ecoboost motor and all-wheel drive, which he calls “the perfect cop car.”
I was going to say something about Omaha and the area but you pretty much covered it! I thought the Douglas County Sheriff had some Taurii as well? Maybe it was Sarpy County? LaVista or Papillion have some Chargers.
Volkswagen, Volkswagen and Volkswagen. That about wraps it up. From the Polo B-segment hatchback to the big Crafter van and everything inbetween. Here’s an Amarok (photo courtesy of L. Beens).
I was surprised to see BMW 3 series serving duty in Italy back in 2009.
Taiwan used 5 series BMWs back in the late ’90’s.
Police Scotland have a few 3 Series, as well as 5 Series and X5. I’ve seen Mercedes C Class in the past too.
Those were the days….
Cambridgeshire have 3 series tourings – 320d and 330d I imagine as they are debadged (I think – I try not to get too close) likely with four wheel drive. English policemen clearly travel lighter…I know that Hampshire cops much prefer the BMWs to the Skodas they have had recently and I imagine its the same in Cambridgeshire
Richmond City still has a ton of Crown Vics in service, also. Some in good enough shape to get the black and white repaint that was phased in about 2 years ago, others still running their original white livery circa 2011. Henrico county, to the north and west, also still has quite a few CVs. Both have started the transition to the Taurus-based interceptors, with Richmond City also adding some Utility interceptors into the mix (in addition to a decently sizeable contingent of Tahoes that showed in in ’13 or so).
The State Police here in VA have largely gone to the Taurus Interceptors for their marked vehicles, though one will still see the odd Crown Vic or Charger. The unmarked units are almost all seventh-gen Impalas.
The campus police at the big local school (Virginia Commonwealth University) are still almost all Crown Vics. Some Interceptors are starting to replace the older ones, but they’re definitely in the minority.
Here the local police used to alternate between Commodore SSs and Falcon XR8s, which certainly would get them to a crime scene in a hurry, but lately they seem to have standardised on Ford Territory 4WDs. Makes sense in a country area with lots of rough tracks.
While the first Caprice PPVs had floor mounted shifters, the latest ones (2014? and up) have column mounted shift. It is unfortunate that production may end soon unless they move production to the US.
You are more likely to see Cadillac CTS or CT6 police cars I think… or just more Tahoes/Explorers.
No way that GM continues the Caprice, in 2015 they didn’t even move 2,000 units in the entire year.
On a tangent, I owned a 2004 former FBI CVPI that I bought with 20k on it in 09. It was a great car, extremely reliable other than one window motor. Sold it with 120k and it, not surprisingly still felt rock solid. With a Blue Oval chip, a larger throttle body, and a ported intake, it moved quite well, 0-60 in right around 7 seconds. Glad I owned it, but don’t miss the mediocre mileage, even before tune and with cruise set at 70 it averaged 23 on a flat highway.
Here in California, there are certain places where the vehicle mix is very much at odds with what the general public drives. They’re tourist areas with many rental cars. That’s where we see Chrysler 200’s and Mustang convertibles. The only people driving Mustang convertibles with the tops down in the desert in summer, or along foggy Hwy 1, are European tourists. On the other hand, there are still many Crown Vics in police service here, both state Highway Patrol and municipal PD’s and Sheriffs. In fact, it seems like the CHP Chargers have disappeared while the Crown Vics soldier on. But I see more and more Explorers. Taurus and PPV, not so much. I do like to watch British cop shows, and I don’t understand how British uniform cops, who now seem to wear as much body armor and other accoutrements of the trade as American cops, can cram into an Astra or small Kia crossover (at least on TV) while our small, gridlocked town requires Explorers for cops to drive around a 3 or 4 mile area. And our motorcycle cops ride Honda ST1300’s …. I think a 250 scooter would be more useful, though perhaps less imposing.
here in this part of Ontario, it seems to be mostly chargers for the city cops and Taurus for the Ontario provincial police with some ford flex interceptors tossed in.
talked to a mechanic buddy who services o.p.p. cruisers and he said the fwd impalas disappeared because of reliability issues and the chargers are reliable(except for eating brakes) but a just too small.
My favorite police cars were the SAABs the Aspen police used for their whole fleet in the 80’s
Some years back I had a ’95 9C1, dark blue with the light blue cloth interior. It was a great car, I still miss it. The only complaint I had was that the rear glass would not stay free of snow accumulation, even with the rear defog always on. This was due to the slope of the backlight. It was very difficult to not drive it in a spirited manner…
Buffalo is replacing their Crown Vics with Chevy Tahoes….no cars at all….all trucks and surprisingly all rear wheel drive, not 4 wheel drive.
Until recently if you wanted a Tahoe PPV your only choice was RWD. If you wanted the 4wd you had to settle for a Tahoe SSV. While there is a Tahoe 4×4 PPV now it still has a lower speed limiter setting than the RWD PPV version, 121 mph instead of 139 mph.
In Chevy speak PPV means Police Pursuit Vehicle which gets you the cop shocks, cop tires, cop brakes, ect. SSV means Special Service Vehicle which gets you strippo vehicle with a big alternator and on the Tahoe the Heavy Duty Trailer Tow package.
The Impalas if they are or were police vehicles would be a 9c3 PPV with the wheel covers and bench seats instead of the buckets and bolt on center caps that a 9c1 Impala PPV would get. There isn’t an Impala SSV.
Fixed! Thank You!
I miss seeing the old SD1s on the road. Here’s a classic car working hard for its living: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTN5X4JZFjU
” Its predecessor, the Crown Victoria based sedan, has all but vanished from the streets around here. That’s no surprise; the last time fleet buyers could purchase a Crown Vic was 2011.”
I am surprised that the CV cop car has vanished from the police forces in your county Edward. The area where I live (the MD/VA/DC area) most police forces still have copious amounts of CV’s running around. Especially Howard County MD (which is in the top 10 wealthiest counties in the USA have a large fleet of them along side some Chargers
I think the local police were really looking for a viable alternative to the Crown Vic for a while now because of the potential for severe winter weather that would leave them in a bind during a true emergency. Even without AWD, the Taurus and Explorer likely handle the snow much better than the RWD police cars of the past and present.
New Jesey State Police is switching to the Caprice. They still have a large contingent of Crown Vics. They also used to have Durangos but I think they are switching to Tahoes.
I believe I’ve read that Ford continues to dominate the police fleet vehicle sales market, even with the Crown Vic. Moreover, sales of the Explorer Interceptor outpace the Taurus Interceptor. The space, performance and economy of the Explorer Interceptor probably do make it the closest thing available to the perfect all around police vehicle mirroring what most consumers seem to decide when purchasing CUVs over other options. The sales strength of the Explorer Interceptor probably also has helped Ford decide to exit the full-size sedan market at the end of the current Taurus’ generation.