OPPD new rides.

[simmonsguns]

When did the new chargers hit the road? man these things look great in police trim.
When OP went to the ghost grafix a while back it made the old ones look good but the new ones are way above the rest.
I would like to see how everything fits in there though, did they go with a smaller set-up or is it the same radio outfit and trimings.

[1two9]

I'll be impressed when they completely phase out the GIANT, nasty-looking, rotator light bars...

[flynlow]

Haven't seen a Dodge yet. I heard they were also going to get Prius'.

[simmonsguns]

Prius, crap now the hippies will start forming drum circles again.

[flynlow]

I did see a Dodge yesterday in the north zone, about Antioch and SM Pkway. I asked a buddy that works there, he said they were 'testing' the Dodge's and right now, he has heard it isn't going too well. They suck gas worse than a CVPI and there is no trunk space. He hasn't driven one himself. He said he has heard they have kind of a light, junky feel compared to the CVPI.

I thought the Prius talk was just a joke but have heard it from several people now. The main concern is there is no space for a cage so they would have to have separate transport vehicles. The lack of power doesn't matter since there is apparently a no pursuit policy........... Go figure. LOL at the hippie remark.

[sprinks]

The prius is not for patrol, our investigations unit has been talking of getting one but i don't know if that is going to happen. As far as the charger goes, it is not a bad car at the same tiime, it is not a good one either. pros is it is very quick, responsive, and smooth. Cons is there is no trunk space, lots of blind spots, and sucks gas.

[flynlow]

Interesting. Apparently there is a rumor that the Prius' are going to be patrol units. I have seen Prius patrol units in Colorado. The Europeans use tiny vehicles for patrol work, so I suppose it is feasible.

I have also heard that the CVPI is going away in 2010. That is, that it will be the final production year. I haven't been able to find anything on this by simple google searches etc. If that is true, looks like Dodge would be about the only police package vehicle left. I don't know if Chevy still does theirs or not.

[simmonsguns]

Lenexa PD has been using the Charger for a while, any information on there experance with the cars.
I can't remember if it's the charger or not but i thought they used a drive-by-wire set up, no direct link from gas pedel to EFI.
There are problems with that and transmission issues, kind of a fragle car to use for heavy duty driving.

[KSjhawk44]

I have a family member that works for the city of Lenexa. They love the chargers there but there is always one or two in the shop. The brakes go out quickly and you can not hop a curb in one. I guess some of the officers there have tried and the front ends came completely off or were broken or something. They look like a police car should and they perform decently, but there are a lot of cons with them, as mentioned by some other people.

[1two9]

I'm no Ford insider, but.... The majority of the conversation I hear is that Ford will CONTINUE the CVPI package, while discontinuing the civilian model. There is a thread on that topic elsewhere, and frankly, I'm too lazy to look for it. But, as someone else is quoted as saying, why would Ford want to pull out of a market they are dominating, and have dominated, and will potentially continue to dominate for years? Aministration heads will always look for something newer and more shiny in the name of being "progressive", but it seems to me if it ain't broken, don't fix it.

As for the Prius talk, a buddy of mine told me they were considering them for investigations. I wouldn't be suprised, but I think it's only a rumor for now. IMHO, that's a terrible sacrifice of safety and stability to save a few bucks.