Starting this month, Plant City’s finest has a new look.
Six of the Plant City Police Department’s new fleet of police cruisers this week hit the community streets. The 2013 Ford Interceptors, sporting the department’s new black-and-white color scheme, are designed specifically for law-enforcement applications.
This year, the department also will receive five Chevrolet Impalas that will be issued to administrative personnel.
This new Interceptor, built on the Taurus body, is completely redesigned. Prior to its production, Ford solicited input from law-enforcement agencies regarding changes and features they wanted to see in a new cruiser.
“For the most part, Ford listened and made significant changes geared toward officer safety, vehicle comfort and reliability,” Sgt. Al VanDuyne said. “Their goal in creating the new Interceptor is to make it the new mainstay in police vehicles, similar to the success the Crown Victoria did.”
There is a one-piece polymer rear seat that will eliminate the possibility of arrestees hiding contraband or weapons inside the car. The vehicle also incorporates a modified prisoner restraint system, rather than a standard seatbelt system. This allows the officer to secure the prisoner without having to reach across them, exposing themselves to possible injury. They also have rear window guards that prevent escape attempts and vandalism.
The remaining fleet of existing patrol vehicles will be transitioned over the next five years, as the current cars reach their life expectancy. The service life for police vehicles is typically 100,000 miles, or seven years.
The department estimates all of its vehicles will be changed by 2018. The department typically has about 85 cars available, 75 of which are marked patrol vehicles.
“The city does an excellent job in securing funds to replace the vehicles when that time arrives,” VanDuyne said. “The vehicles are replaced as they start to become more costly to maintain and show signs of their age, such as peeling paint and decals.”
VanDuyne said because the cars were barely deployed this week, there hasn’t been too much feedback. But there is buzz around the station.
“The overall response has been positive,” VanDuyne said.
The design was voted on by members of the Plant City Police Department’s employee advisory board to replace the current decal package that has been in use since 1999.
Contact Amber Jurgensen at ajurgensen@plantcityobserver.com.Related Stories
