Police may face limited options for patrol cars in coming years

Posted 10/29/19

The Powell City Council approved two bids for new police cars last week. Fremont Motors in Powell will provide a 2020 Dodge Charger for $28,512 and a $32,320 Dodge Durango, which will be used for a …

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Police may face limited options for patrol cars in coming years

Posted

The Powell City Council approved two bids for new police cars last week. Fremont Motors in Powell will provide a 2020 Dodge Charger for $28,512 and a $32,320 Dodge Durango, which will be used for a K-9 unit.

Police Chief Roy Eckerdt told the council that procuring police sedans could get more difficult in the future due to automobile manufacturing trends. North American consumers are increasingly buying crossovers, trucks, and SUVs, as the larger vehicles become better equipped and more fuel efficient. They are also perceived to offer more safety.

Ford announced in April 2018 that, outside of the Mustang and Focus Active, it would stop selling cars altogether. The manufacturer will make a Ford Inceptor utility vehicle, which is a crossover used by police departments, but they cost $10,000 more than the sedans.

Dodge also announced a limited run time this year on its V8 Charger orders. What that could mean for the future production of that model is uncertain.

Bryan Wenger, equipment manager with the Wyoming Department of Transportation, said they don’t have a lot of information on the availability of next year’s models. 

“It’s pretty vague,” he said.

Wenger said the Dodges with V6 engines will probably be available in future years, but they might not meet the Wyoming Highway Patrol’s specifications.

Speaking after the council meeting, Eckerdt said it’s too “early in the game” to know exactly how the reduction in available sedan models will play out for police departments.

“It’ll be interesting to see where the cars shake out,” the chief said.

If law enforcement is left only with SUVs and hybrids, it could eat up budgets and limit departments’ ability to replace vehicles.

Eckerdt added that the Powell Police Department keeps vehicles going as long as they can — which means making them last longer really isn’t an option.

“When we get rid of a car, it’s done,” he said.

Eckerdt noted at the meeting that the new vehicle purchases were within the department’s budget for the year.

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