đź“° Auto News REPORT: Ford preparing cops for life after Crown Vic, has police sample Taurus

Primalzer

TCG Elite Member
Sep 14, 2006
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Quick quiz: What vehicle transported Paris Hilton to prison? If you answered Ford's Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, you took the easy route and you were correct. The older than thou Crown Vic accounts for about 85% of the 75,000 police vehicles sold each year – a market where styling, amenities and new safety features have little to do with the vehicle's success.

The CV's body-on-frame construction helps the ubiquitous cop cruiser stand up to the punishment doled out by the guys and gals in blue. Body-on-frame platforms are generally also easier to repair, and anyone who has been in a police parking lot can plainly see that these vehicles take a big-time beating in the name of public safety. The CV is also rear-wheel drive for better handling, it's large enough to fit even the biggest of felons (and cops), and its column-mounted shifter enables the fuzz to have plenty of room for a laptop. But alas, the Crown Vic is also older than dirt. We'd joke that Henry Ford himself had a hand in the creation of the CV, but chances are that Henry II actually did, and he retired as the head of the Blue Oval when Pong was state-of-the-art video gaming technology.

According to The Detroit News, in June, Ford hosted police personnel from some of America's biggest cities to discuss the future of the police cruiser. The Dearborn, MI-based automaker told the police departments that the Crown Vic would be gone by 2011. That's bad news for departments like the LAPD, which has a shop set up specifically to deal with the CV. Some police departments told the Motown newspaper that rear-drive vehicles like the Charger can't hold up to the abuse of police work. Others are looking into the Impala, though the front-drive Chevy hasn't gained much traction with law enforcement. One ray of hope could come in the form of the Carbon Motors E7 purpose built police cruiser, but it isn't quite ready for prime time yet, and it's likely to be significantly more expensive than the equivalent Blue Oval cruiser.

Ford is in a bit of a predicament in that the Crown Vic has the police (and cab) market to itself and, as Ford President Mark Fields points out to The Detroit News, the CV gives Ford a presence in just about every municipality in America. One vehicle that Ford gave to police to drive during their stay in Dearborn was the new Taurus, which is almost as big and roomy as the CV, but with far more safety tech, improved fuel economy and the (costly) option of an Ecoboost V6 under the hood in the form of the SHO model. The Taurus may not be the ultimate answer (at least it won't be outrun by a Toyota Camry or Nissan Altima), but Ford insists that it isn't giving up its police share without a fight.

[Autoblog]

NOOOOOOOOOOOO, not the Panther platform!
 

Primalzer

TCG Elite Member
Sep 14, 2006
25,259
61
I haven't been sold on Carbon, it's going to be more expensive out of the hole, and I don't believe that the economical motor is going to make up for that initial expense in the long run. Plus it's an untested product in the real-world, who knows if its going to be able to stand up to day-to-day abuse the way the CV does. GM were idiots for discontinuing the Caprice, and Ford is following suit for some reason.
 

EmersonHart13

TCG Elite Member
TCG Premium
Jul 18, 2007
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Well people are willing to pay... Look at CPD which are getting all Tahoes. Those things are pretty darn expensive once fully outfitted.

Coming off the city's most violent year in over a decade, embattled Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis will finally get his wish when the CPD begins receiving the first of its 2,000 new Chevy Tahoes by early spring. In November, Weis inked the deal with Advantage Chevrolet to provide the CPD with up to 2,000 new SUVs over the next three years at a total cost of around $59 million. So...$59 million in new cars over what this city really needs: new officers. Makes perfect sense to us. Each Tahoe will cost the city at least $24,977, and that's before you add in all the extra equipment like spotlights and radios. According to the CPD's recruitment website: "Starting Salary of $43,104, increased to $55,723 after one year and an additional increase to $58,896 after 18 months." We suck at math but even we can use our calculator to figure out that $59 million for 2,000 SUVS works out to $29,500 per car. We can also figure out that for the cost of two SUVs, the CPD can hire one-and-a-half new officers: $59 mil would pay for the first year salary for 1,360 new cops. And even at the 18-month pay grade, that's still 1,000 new officers. That sound you just heard was the popping of a blood vessel in my head.
We're constantly being told by The Mayor that there's no money to hire more cops and that we'll just have to make due with what we've got. Really? And yet you found a way to shit out an extra $59 million for new SUVs? Okay, fine, we get the argument that police should have top-notch vehicles and equipment. They are, after all, putting their lives on the line every day to protect us. But why tricked-out SUVs? Why not newer models of the same Crown Vics that are already in use? Or, hell, even repairing the old ones that are still in okay shape? Morale is low enough as it is (read Second City Cop) and it gets lower with every fuck-up that happens. Should the be police be held accountable for stuff like Vincent Richardson and Anthony Abbate? Absolutely. But what the Department also needs is a Mayor and a Superintendent who don't both have their heads up their asses and realize that trimming the bad apples, replacing them with a wave of new officers, and better training will go much further in making this city safer than shiny new cars ever will.
 
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