New Police Cars Cramp Local Budgets

Central Wisconsin police departments are spending thousands of extra dollars per police car this year as they rebuild fleets after Ford’s discontinuation of the most popular police car model.

Police departments for decades relied primarily upon two cars — the Chevy Caprice and Ford Crown Victoria — to provide the space, passenger capacity, and performance needed by officers.

Most local departments now are turning to the Ford Taurus Interceptor, meaning motorists will start seeing new squads over the next few weeks, and that departments are spending thousands of dollars outfitting the new cars instead of recycling specialized equipment that could be moved from one old Crown Victoria to a new one.

Marathon County Sheriff’s Department Captain Randy Hillman said the department will replace eight of its fleet of 47 squads this year, two with SUVs and six with Taurus Interceptors. He said new prisoner cages, gun racks, and cameras will cost an extra $2,500 per car this year. And the Interceptors themselves cost about $3,000 more than the old cars.

Everest Metro Police Department Captain Mark Hull said the discontinuation of the Crown Victoria has been rough, especially when departments everywhere are scaling back budgets. His department purchased two new sedans this year for the nine-car fleet. He expects all the Crown Victorias in the Everest Metro will be gone by 2017. "It’s at a bad time; money is tight for everybody," Hull said. "To have to completely, newly outfit a vehicle is a little frustrating from budgetary standpoint."

The more expensive cars also have less interior space, which some officers dislike, said City of Wausau Fleet Manager Mark Hanson, a NAFA Member who replaced seven vehicles this year. "Well, these are definitely smaller for the officers," Hanson said. "The driver’s seat is more crammed, the headroom is a little bit less. A lot of the bigger guys don’t like these. The consensus that I’ve heard is that some of the officers like the (SUV) over the sedans."

Departments agree, however, that the all-wheel-drive on the new cars is a bonus in Wisconsin’s climate. Crown Victorias were rear-wheel-drive, which could be harrowing. "That’s going to be a big benefit for us in the winter," Hillman said. "None of our marked squads were all wheel drives. We spend a lot of time pulling out vehicles. They’d just get in deep snow."

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