Town Police Cars Changing To Black And White Color Scheme

By Andrew Gorosko

Although the work that they do will remain the same, the vehicles that they use while on patrol will be changing.

Newtown police this week put on the road the first of their new Chevrolet Caprice sedan patrol cars, which during the next several years will be replacing the police department’s fleet of Ford Crown Victoria sedan patrol cars.

Most noticeably, the Chevrolets, which have a more modern silhouette than the Fords, have a black and white paint scheme with gold-colored lettering. The more stoutly-shaped Fords are solid blue with yellow lettering.

Because the police department purchases only a few replacement patrol cars annually, it will be several years before the fleet of ten marked cars is all Chevrolets.

Town police have been driving Ford Crown Victoria patrol cars for decades, but when Ford announced plans to end production of the Crown Victoria model, town police and police across the country began looking for alternative patrol vehicles.

After reviewing the specifications of current Ford, Dodge, and Chevrolet vehicles that are designed for police patrol work, town police last November settled on acquiring the Chevrolets, explained Administrative Sergeant Aaron Bahamonde, who is the police fleet manager.

Town police have received two Caprices, one of which is on the road, with the other vehicle being set up for patrol work.

Besides the $26,000 cost of such a vehicle, approximately $10,000 of police-specific equipment is added to each auto. Such gear includes emergency lights, sirens, radios, and computers, among other law enforcement equipment.

While the Chevrolet is physically smaller than the Ford sedan that it replaces, the eight-cylinder, rear-wheel-drive Caprice produces more horsepower and torque than the Ford, Sgt Bahamonde said.

The vehicles have rugged suspensions and carry two wet-cell storage batteries to meet the electricity demands of such vehicles.

The black and white color scheme of the new vehicles increases their recognition as police cars, the sergeant said. “Our goal is to more visible,” he noted.

Police are seeking to have the new vehicles stay on the road for at least 100,000 miles. The cars have engine clocks which will record the total time that their engines have run, including idling time.

The rear seat of the cars is designed with suitable prisoner confinement in mind.

Police studied the characteristics of the various vehicles designed for police patrol work before deciding on the Chevrolets, Sgt Bahamonde said, noting that police spend much time behind the wheel of such cars.

“That’s his office for eight hours [a shift] and you want to make sure it’s a dependable vehicle,” he said. “It’s something that we thought long and hard about,” he added.

“Time is going to tell with these cruisers,” he said, of the Chevrolets’ suitability for police patrol work.