Cedar Rapids Police Department transitioning to SUVs

CEDAR RAPIDS - The Cedar Rapids Police Department is thinking bigger - at least when it comes to vehicle sizes.

When Ford discontinued production of the Crown Victoria - a common police cruiser model since 1998 - police departments were forced to think about how to replace their aging fleets. Cedar Rapids police Capt. Steve O'Konek said the department considered the new Ford Police Interceptor, but noted the car - modeled after a Ford Taurus - was smaller than the Crown Victorias.

After experimenting briefly with a Chevrolet model, O'Konek said the police department settled on the Ford Police Interceptor Utility modeled after the Ford Explorer.

'We found the police SUV really gives us the room and operational capacity to have multiple officers in the car, carry all of the equipment and carry all of the technology better than the sedans,” O'Konek said.

O'Konek said police vehicles now house radar, video cameras, computers, radios, printers and light controllers, as well as racks for patrol rifles and patrol shotguns. That can make space tight.

'The cockpit gets pretty crowded,” he said.

O'Konek added that the SUV offers higher field of view for an officer, as well as greater visibility for the public. Because the Crown Victorias had V-8 engines and the SUVs have V-6, O'Konek said he expects the SUV has a comparable fuel economy to the sedan.

'We're trying to be ecologically friendly,” he said.

The police department has 53 vehicles in its patrol fleet - 40 sedans and 13 SUVs. However, the city is planning to buy 12 SUVs in fiscal 2017, if the City Council approves the department's budget. The state contract price for an SUV is $27,744, while a police sedan goes for $25,390.

The dozen SUVs will replace the sedans the department has determined are too expensive to maintain.

'We do see that $2,000 more per car gives the officer and the public a little more bang for its buck,” O'Konek said. 'The men and women (of the department) seem to love them. We're giving them the best technology we can give them.”