Law enforcement vehicles

[golden eagle]

When I was Alabama over the weekend, I saw a few state troopers driving Dodge Chargers, though I did see a few standard Crown Victorias. I remember years ago seeing Florida state troopers driving Mustangs. I also saw a Ford Explorer or something similar as a police vehicle along I-459.

[corco]

Cool!

[agentsteel53]

I think it's the Tahoe that's the standard SUV police package.  The Crown Vic survives in great numbers, and the new standard sedan is the Charger.

Mustang police vehicles are excellent - as featured by New Hampshire state police.  I've also seen Camaros belonging to the Sunnyvale, CA police department.  

I remember when the older, more boxy Crown Victorias (see any 80s cop movie for numerous examples) were everywhere and the newer, more rounded Crown Vics were the novelty.  Now the Chargers are the novelty, but soon they'll be the ones that are everywhere.

it should also be noted that in the US, police vehicles are, with very few exceptions, American made cars.  The California Highway Patrol uses BMW motorcycles, and I remember as a kid seeing a Volvo 740 being used as a police car somewhere in Massachusetts, and then in 2006 I saw a Toyota Camry police vehicle in the Lake Champlain area of Vermont.

[corco]

In my hometown of McCall, Idaho, the police car fleet consists of 6 Ford Explorers (varying in age from 1998 to 2010), 2 Ford Explorer Sport Tracs, and a mid-90s Ford Bronco (don't ask how a town of 2,000 can afford 9 police cars). They had a Chevy Lumina for summer use until a year or so ago, but it looks like they decommissioned it.

Standard Idaho State Police fare has shifted to the Charger, but there's several Dodge Durangos and Chevy Tahoes in the fleet, as well as a few leftover Crown Vics. The local Valley County Sheriff uses Ford Expeditions, Dodge Dakotas, Dodge Rams, and at least one Ford F-150.

Laramie Wyoming uses Impalas almost exclusively, although there is one Ford Expedition and a couple Crown Vics. The Wyoming Highway Patrol is about 40/40/20 Charger/Crown Vic/Impala.

[BigMattFromTexas]

DPS here uses Ford Crown Vics, I think they use Ford Expeditions. The local SAPD uses Ford Crown Vics, and Dodge Chargers. My dad is in a Charger I've been in it like once, cause of the whole "not allowed to have your kids in the police car" thing SAPD does...
BigMatt

[Truvelo]

it should also be noted that in the US, police vehicles are, with very few exceptions, American made cars

Is that to protect the American car industry?

Over here the vast majority, if not all, police vehicles are foreign. The last large scale UK manufacturer, Rover, went bump in 2005 but prior to that Rover did supply a lot of cars to the police. I'm not sure how the current system of supplying police vehicles works but it wouldn't surprise me if police forces buy off the manufacturer who quotes the best price. No doubt they are sold at a huge discount.

[corco]

Is that to protect the American car industry?

Historically we're a fairly protectionist country- since the beginning of automobile production it has been very, very rare for taxi companies, law enforcement agencies, or any other government bodies to buy foreign cars. Most domestic private corporations even exclusively buy domestic cars for use as fleet vehicles/company cars.

This is changing, however, at least among private companies. 20 years ago it was very, very rare to find a Japanese car in a car rental line, but now this happens all the time. Priuses are starting to pop up as taxis, and I've noticed the University of Wyoming owns a couple of Subarus. Government agencies are still fairly strongly encouraged to buy domestically, as they are with any other product or service whenever possible.

Myself, I'm saddened by all that since I'm a firm believer in buying domestic and protecting one of our largest sources of employment and manufacturing (while keeping the profits of said manufacturing in the USA), but the overall trend seems to be drifting towards "Who cares where it's from?"

For police cars, however, the added bonus to buying American is that Americans are frankly better at producing the cars police need (or think they need) to do their jobs. Cops strongly prefer large rear wheel drive vehicles, and no foreign company sells non-premium vehicles in that segment in the USA (excepting a few SUVs and pickup trucks)

[SSOWorld]

Keep in mind corco that the imports are building cars in the USA as well nowadays.

Crown Vics - and their cousin - the Mercury Grand Marquis - are being phased out.

[agentsteel53]

Crown Vics - and their cousin - the Mercury Grand Marquis - are being phased out.

that body style sure has had a long run; and I'm certain we'll be seeing them as taxicabs for years to come.  They are damn near indestructible; I've ridden in taxis with over 400,000 miles on the odometer.

I still see the occasional 1979-1992 style Crown Vic floating around, as well as the contemporary Chevy Caprice (another very successful police car).

[bugo]

that body style sure has had a long run; and I'm certain we'll be seeing them as taxicabs for years to come.  They are damn near indestructible; I've ridden in taxis with over 400,000 miles on the odometer.

The Panther platform was introduced in the 1979 model year.  That's over 30 years of production.

[xonhulu]

Keep in mind corco that the imports are building cars in the USA as well nowadays.

I've heard it said the terms "foreign" and "domestic" are virtually meaningless when applied to automobiles anymore, what with locations of assembly plants, outsourcing for parts, etc. 

[corco]

Keep in mind corco that the imports are building cars in the USA as well nowadays.

Site of production doesn't matter- the premise is that when you buy a Ford, the profits from the Ford go to Detroit. When you buy a Toyota, the profits from the Toyota go to Tokyo or wherever. While the manufacturing is important, the profits are what ultimately makes a country rich.

[agentsteel53]

if the executives are any smart, the profits go to the Cayman Islands.

[Bryant5493]

I saw some Tuscaloosa County Sheriff Mercedes SUVs awhile back, just before entering the Tuscaloosa city limits on I-20 East/59 North.

Additionally, the Georgia State Patrol uses Dodge Chargers, Tahoes, and the Crown Vics.


Be well,

Bryant

[TheHighwayMan3561]

I've seen some Jeep Wrangler cops in Superior in addition to the standard Chevy/GMC Suburbans and Ford Crown Vics/Chevy Caprices.

[golden eagle]

I saw some Tuscaloosa County Sheriff Mercedes SUVs awhile back, just before entering the Tuscaloosa city limits on I-20 East/59 North.

I wonder if the nearby Mercedes plant donated them to the sheriff's office.

[BigMattFromTexas]

I saw some Tuscaloosa County Sheriff Mercedes SUVs awhile back, just before entering the Tuscaloosa city limits on I-20 East/59 North.

I wonder if the nearby Mercedes plant donated them to the sheriff's office.

I wouldn't have. Heh,heh,heh.
BigMatt

[The Premier]

I saw some Tuscaloosa County Sheriff Mercedes SUVs awhile back, just before entering the Tuscaloosa city limits on I-20 East/59 North.

I wonder if the nearby Mercedes plant donated them to the sheriff's office.

That would be possible, since the ML-Class is built in Tuscaloosa.

[Crazy Volvo Guy]

I remember when the older, more boxy Crown Victorias (see any 80s cop movie for numerous examples) were everywhere and the newer, more rounded Crown Vics were the novelty.  Now the Chargers are the novelty, but soon they'll be the ones that are everywhere.

Doubtful.  Don't believe me?  Sit in a Charger.

Every Charger-driving cop I've talked to tells me they LOVE the power and handling of the Charger, but you can't see shit out of them.   They seriously have HORRIBLE visibility from inside the car.

While the manufacturing is important, the profits are what ultimately make an executive rich.

FTFY - In this day and age, it's the manufacturing that helps the country.  The profits go into the executives' pockets - and the excutives employ a lot of 'guard labor' to ensure that it stays in their pockets.

Anyway, my money for the next big police vehicle is on the new Caprice to be unveiled sometime this fall.  It has tons of power, decent handling and looks like it'd have decent visibility; its D-pillars are nowhere near as massive as those of the Charger.

[corco]

FTFY - In this day and age, it's the manufacturing that helps the country.  The profits go into the executives' pockets - and the excutives employ a lot of 'guard labor' to ensure that it stays in their pockets.

Eh, I disagree. Sure, it helps the blue-collar worker make more money initially (as do unions! Foreign cars produced in the USA use non-union labor, the domestics use unionized labor), and if you're working in a vacuum that's definitely true. We're in a global economy, however. If I buy a Toyota and the profits are yen in some Japanese executive's pockets, that's likely not money that's spent helping local businesses in the United States. The rich executive in Detroit likely spends his money back into the US economy- the whole trickle-down philosophy.

Beyond that, a manufacturing based economy is generally not seen as a fantastic thing in the 21st century. Better for us to build cars in Mexico, pay the Mexicans a low wage, and keep all the money, which if we were taxed properly would then be rolled into education and things like that, helping us to continue to innovate. In this day and age, the service sector is where it's at.

Foreign companies taking advantage of a weak dollar to come in and build manufacturing facilities that provide a few average joes with short term gain is absolutely not what we want. That's how third-world countries come to be third-world countries. Countries that hoard money are without question the ones with the highest standard of living in the world- just look at the HDI.

And sure, a lot of money goes to executives- but I think you're grossly overestimating how much money goes to executives relative to the actual profits of a successful company. A large, successful company is dealing in the billions of dollars. If $200 million goes to the executives, I don't see a problem. They've earned that money. In a publically traded company, shareholders can make a lot of money. I bought a bunch of Ford stock about a year and a half ago. I now have a lot more money then I did a year and a half a go.  If the company is unsuccessful, then sure, in America we have a big problem with executives taking too much money from unsuccessful companies- but successful companies? Not a problem.

The issue specifically with Japanese manufacturers is that the Japanese are incredibly protectionist. They pretty much don't buy American products. If there's give and take, like there is with Canada and most of Europe and even China (we obviously take more than they do, but Chinese are very, very open to American products- just look at Buick's success over there), it semi-works out. The Japanese pay non-union wages to build cars in America that they sell at a greater profit margin than the Big 3 does, take that gain, and essentially keep it. They buy some agricultural products back from us, but that's pretty much it. In the long run, that both lowers our standard of living because we're being paid less and weakens the US dollar because we keep having to make more of them to buy Japanese products that we're producing. If they're domestic companies a lot of that money does go into the hands of executives, but a lot of it goes to unionized workers and shareholders. Regardless of whose domestic hands it is in, we have more money to spend- or at least we're treading water and not buying the car we built for more than the cost that we built it for, which is basically giving them free money. That raises standard of living and keeps us from having to print more dollars.

Now, if we would just do what the Japanese do and essentially say "No foreign companies are building manufacturing plants on our soil, and we're putting an insane tariff on imported goods" (A base Ford Explorer in Japan costs 4.3 million yen, or US$51,111- a Subaru Forester costs just a tiny bit more than it does in the USA at 1.995 million Yen or $23,000. They did a Cash For Clunkers program this year, for which US cars were initially not purchasable, causing Hillary Clinton to beg to allow US cars to be purchased), then demand for domestic cars go up, Ford/GM/maybe Chrysler grow again, opening new plants, all the workers are unionized, we pay a little bit more for a car, but that money stays here and is spent here. Protectionism isn't normally a good idea, but it's a lot better than giving money and labor away to a protectionist country as we've been doing with Japan for years.

[deathtopumpkins]

The local Hampton PD uses Impalas exclusively. No chargers. Maybe a few Crown Vics left, but 95% Impalas.

Virginia State Police use new Chargers, and I'm not sure what the older cars are. Haven't seen any state troopers in easily a month.

[rawmustard]

There is a test of new police vehicles going on this weekend at the Chrysler Proving Grounds near Chelsea. Over 400 police officials are in attendance, and final results will be published in December.