An eye opening look into how old school meets new school… Wayne Gerdes – CleanMPG – Jan. 21, 2015 Crew: Do you want to go back to the Crown Vic? [long pause] Officer: No. Crew: That was succinct. [laughter] Toyota had a really interesting release showing how misconceptions can be overcome. Even among the most die hard. Here is that story. On the surface, it’s just an environmental thing: A hybrid is going to emit less pollutants than a gasoline-only power train. But it’s also going to use less fuel and get more mpg and at low speeds, it’s quieter than a gasoline engine. Think of it as a “stealth mode” when running only on electric power. For a cop car, that makes it easier to sneak up on the bad guys. These are just a few of the advantages discovered by the Arkadelphia, Arkansas Police Department when they replaced 10 of their aging Crown Victorias with Toyota Camry Hybrids. At first, “I was dead set against it,” says veteran officer Don Cleek. “To me, a police car’s supposed to be rear wheel drive, V8 and can go through ditches.” In short, he didn’t believe the hybrids would be up to the job. But that didn’t stop city manager Jimmy Bolt from pushing Chief of Police Al Harris to give the Camry Hybrids a try. After a few months in the field, it was pretty clear: The hybrids were doing every bit as well on the job as the Crown Vics. What’s more, they were getting about 27 mpg in all-city driving (compared to about 12 to 14 mpg on the Crown Vics) AND thanks to the fuel savings and much lower maintenance costs, the city of Arkadelphia was saving itself about 3% of its annual budget. In short, even Officer Cleek now agrees it’s a lot easier to be an environmentalist when you’re catching the crooks and saving money to boot! Hybrid Law The whole story as embedded is a new short documentary by filmmaker Peter Byck, director of 2011’s Carbon Nation. To learn more about Toyota’s Hybrid Technology, visit the Toyota display this week at the Washington, DC Auto Show, January 22-31, 2016, at the Washington Convention Center.
It would be a hard sell to get most police departments into a Camry Hybrid, even though probably not much different than the interior of a police cruiser like a Dodge Charger....
Cops are typically a whiny bunch of primadonna's who fear change. That's why more and more police departments are moving to Explorers and other SUV's , cuz they remind cops of the "good old days". That's my $.02.
WTH, Ten Camry Hybrids and more coming for a town with a population under 11,000. Am I missing something here?
Maybe because they need 100% availability in case of maintenance issues or collisions, so they keep spares? http://www.cityofarkadelphia.com/police.html If they're using something like a one-car-per-officer approach (which somewhat counter-intuitively can help save money) then they could easily end up with 10 cars. But yeah, they obviously like their police.
When a police officer is assigned their own patrol car, those cars normally last longer, and have fewer issues or problems. When officers share cars those cars usually have more problems and down time. The only problems is the trunk space in the Camry Hybrid. Usually patrol cars have quite a bit of equipment on board in the trunk. One of the reasons the Crown Vic. was popular as you could put a small living room inside that trunk....
If I was arrested, though, I would have to decline a ride in a crown vic. I have an image to maintain and I won't be seen in any car that gets less than 30mpg combined. Go get the Toyota Camry hybrid. I'll wait.
'WTH, Ten Camry Hybrids and more coming for a town with a population under 11,000.' Don't forget the MRAPS and other SWAT gear...
