The ones we've been getting with those wheels have all been V6 cars. We recently bought all of the Crown Vic Police package cars left in California whether we needed them or not. Something like 35 cars. I'm curious to see what the new Chevy will look like.
It really is amazing how many people forget that. Cops are people too. They (for the most part) tend to treat people as they are being treated. When I was young and dumb and was getting stopped more often than I should have been, I was always polite and respectful, and seldom ended up with more than a verbal warning, though I often rated a hard copy. People make mistakes and usually a reminder and a kind word goes a long way, just as you stated. I'm curious about the new Chevys as well. I forget, are they supposed to be RWD? FWD has its place in certain jurisdictions, but for where I work, RWD is really what is needed, and quick acceleration. -Joe
We use to get rid of our cars at 75k....but with budget cuts now they are getting very long in the tooth....just now we are going to be getting new cars, Chargers and Tahoe's. Personally I would not want a car other then an admin car. And again most of our "good" cars go to road and bridge and such.
From what I've heard the new Chevy is RWD. The Dodge doesn't work here, criminals are fat and don't fit in the back. They bought a few for performance driver training. They don't buy cars with limited slip here because they crash 'em on the clover leafs. One wheel drive works best around here.
At the last agency I worked for, the car I was assigned had 44k miles when I got it. I left there after nearly six years and the car ('97 CVPI) had 202k miles on it, still the original engine and transmission, neither rebuilt. At 208k miles, a Sergeant there finally blew up the motor. I guess he forgot he needed to add a quart of oil at the start of the week. We just added this to our fleet... Since its arrival, its been reconfigured to a 4 door cab, open bed, painted in hotrod black with red and blue LEDs. It should be back from the graphics shop this week, so I can post up some new pics. Thanks to the MO National Guard! I hope they don't want it back anytime soon. -Joe
I've been driving P.D. cars since 1984. The late 80's Caprice, Dodge Charger V-8's and the Chevy Police Tahoe were the best vehicles I ever drove for daily patrol assignments. One of my first cars was a Dodge with the 440 engine...I'm not sure what model, I do know it wasn't a Diplomat. The Dodge still had the "bubble gum" lights rather than the one piece light bar. The Chevy Malibu was the biggest piece of shit police vehicle I was ever assigned. The Camaro was the best traffic enforcement four wheel vehicle I ever drove. The Mustang was fun but rode rough and was even more cramped than the Camaro. I reached a speed of 158 mph during a pursuit on a wide open highway in the Camaro. I really want the new Chevy Detective special they came out with this year. Won't happen. I'm stuck with my Crown Victoria.
You're right there! With a partition, the back seat barely holds Mary Lou Retton. We have a Sgt. who is 6'04. The PD installed a split partition in his car so the driver's seat will go back far enough for him to be comfortable. There is enough room for one fat bastage on the passenger side as a consequence. This is and trunk space is where I miss my CV. Not much beyond that. -Joe
The Polara? (aka The Blues Mobile?) Those big Dodges would get up and run, but what a beast to keep on the road. Our Dicks are now in 2WD Grand Cherokees. I still think the most fun, short of driver training at Burns Flat in the new Chargers, had to be LEDT back at the academy in a LT1 Caprice. There's just something about shooting that whale through a dog leg at 90 MPH and then drifting it around the lollipop while the instructor was wondering what he had gotten himself into... -Joe
I've flogged one of those, dang good rig overall. It gets a little strange when it picks up a front wheel under hard cornering.
CHP Tested and ordered them in 1982 and other agencies followed. Actually they were used nationwide till the ssp series mustang ended in 1993. given what i know about how government agencies spend the TAX dollar and the fact that police departments have A no exception safety standards that have to be adhered to the ssp mustang's would not have lasted as long as they did. sorry to hear you had trouble with your non ssp Mustang maybe you should have bought a used ssp Mustang that had regular service and maintenance. in hindsight maybe it was your service and maintenance at fault?
I had a 2011 CV as a rental car a few weeks ago. It got almost 27mpg floating down the highway at 70mph. Comfy. -JA
New caprice=pontiac G8. They are great cars, but I think they are like the new ford car...they do not exist yet....at least not a couple weeks ago when we gave our order in. The charger does make a darn good looking cop car tho....too bad it will cost us a fortune...new cages, consoles, mounts....effen everything. I guess time has to move on sometime.
Not if you're black. Certainly what you say has NOT been my experience. I have never NOT been polite but i've never received a warning. And i'm polite to everybody, from janitors and fast food workers to DMV employees, customer service reps, (even the ones in India) even beggars and homeless people. It's how I was raised. Read the wiki on Ubuntu. Of course, i'm black. I grew up in Africa. I was having a housewarming at my place years ago when, somehow, the topic turned around to getting traffic tickets and how many everybody had, how many they had gotten out of and how many warnings they'd been given. Someone noticed that I was not contributing and asked me my experiences. They (mostly white, but some latinos. I was the only black person) were horrified when I told them I had never been given a warning, had never gotten out of a ticket, in light of the stories many of them told about what they were doing when they got pulled over, or how drunk they were, or how they didn't have a seatbelt on. I, on the other hand, get pulled over, and get a ticket. No matter what I was going, no matter how polite I was. EDIT. I take that (last sentence) back. There have been a few instances when I was pulled over and not given a ticket. In those instances, the officer who pulled me over was fully intending to give me a ticket until I read/ showed them the specific clause in the motor vehicle code that nullified their reasoning. Yes, I drove with the California Vehicle Code in my car. Even highlighted the specific passage for their elucidation.
We just found out that the new Police intercepter is going to be available first quarter next year....if we order it will be feb-march delivery....now everything is back to square one.....then you get all the different choices again AWD FWD super charged....what a pain.
Don't know if you saw my post here, but I had a 1973 Satellite ex police pursuit cruiser with the 440magnum in it in 1975. Loved that car. Handled great, and was FAST! It was also neat because they left the whole radio/Vascar system in the trunk by mistake when they sold it and I re-installed all of it. I had a full on radar system, and the radio. Never got pulled over in that car either.
Good post, enlightening, but this part... I call bullshit. If an officer already has it out for you based on some kind of prejudice, there's no way roadside lawyering would ever help make that kind of situation better. Even in the unlikely event the facts giving rise to the violation allow for interpretation, wouldn't a cop rather maintain his dignity, give you a ticket, and force you to plead your case in court? I can't believe a cop who'd already gone to the trouble of pulling you over and who already had some kind of prejudicial animosity toward your ethnicity would stand there and allow himself to be so pedantically corrected. "Sir, I pulled you over because my radar gun said you were 10 over the limit, but your awesome knowledge of the traffic code totally nullifies my reasoning...have a nice day"