Yes, the Prius is the official car of Eugene, and Crown Vics and Tahoes tend to really stand out, so if you want to be a bit stealthy in your policing, as well as “sustainable” here’s the answer. And how perfect really, especially since most police cars seem to spend at least half the time sitting in an empty lot, engine idling away, waiting for something to happen. In a Prius, there’s plenty of battery power for the laptop to watch the latest episode of Cops or catch up on the “Most Wanted” postings. And with a top speed of 108, catching any of the aging Curbside Classics of Eugene in a full-on chase shouldn’t be a problem. That’s a lot faster than the Dodge St. Regis the CHP used to have.
From this angle it looks more like it needs a “Ghostbusters” makeover. lol
At least when it’s running on battery power, you can sneak up on criminals. How much would a full light bar and radio equipment tax the electrical system? I believe you meant the Dodge St.Regis? And the Prius would out run both of them.
Right; fixed!
I can see it now: Step 1 – Replace cruisers with Prii. Step 2 – Remove officer’s personal firearms. Step 3 – Draconian regulations against suspected profiling. Step 4 – . . . . . . . . .
Thank you, I love living in rural Virginia, where cops drive real cars.
I’m just messin’ with you, as usual. Charges and Tahoes are replacing the EPD’s CVs. And they’re well armed too!
Paul, I’d be lying if I said that Eugene’s Chargers didn’t turn me on a bit! Illinois doesn’t upfit them like that at all.
The next time I’m in Forest Park I’ll try to grab a pic or two of the Segway beat cops and Aveo parking patrol for ya.
Here in Santa Monica, our police bought one of the last shipments of Crown Victorias, so I’ll still be seeing them patrol my neighborhood.
Well, over here in Silicon Valley, I think the Prius is the unofficial car of tech-land. There’s about 10-15 of them in my neighborhood alone. My wife gets a kick out of spotting Priuses when we drive to/from our home.
I was gonna say, if you had a very hot Dodge or Plymouth of say, 440, 426 Hemi, 426 Max Wedge or even with a 6pac, or any other super muscle car of that period, you’d blow that Prius into the weeds and not break a sweat.
BTW, some of our local parking enforcement establishment drive the last iteration of the Foci but most drive the little 3 wheeled Cushman like units instead.
Keep it simple. Any modern 250cc sportbike will burn that Prius cruiser. As will my ’69 Bonneville.
Yeah, but you can’t outrun the Motorola.
in nyc, the hybrid altimas seem to be the new cop car of choice. there isn’t a lot of high speed pursuits here, so it makes sense. the nyc auto pool is a fascinating thing. they seem to have no problem mixing all kinds of models and maintaining them. there are crown vics, mailbus and chargers parked in front of most precincts. there are even some first generation prii still floating around in other city departments. the city drives all the official cars into the ground and a surprising number of cc’s are still in active service. it just shows what basic maintenance can do to extend the life of even unloved fleet cars.
The thing that this CC made me think of was Audi’s “Green Police” TV ad from a couple of years back. One wonders if the officers are also issued pogo sticks on which to conduct pursuits of perps on foot who try and bolt . . .