Random thought: Why do police even bother with "cars" any more?

Recently I've noticed that a much higher proportion of our (well-funded) Fairfax County police force is now driving Explorers (with less of the Taurus PP). Got me thinking about why police forces even bother with "cars" any more, and haven't gone all the way over to crossover-style SUVs. These days many SUVs accelerate, stop, and turn nearly as well as most cars. On the Ford side, the PP Explorer has the same engine as the PP Taurus and (IIRC) basically the same platform/suspension. But of course it has better ground clearance (in snow, or following a perp off-road, or jumping curbs) and much more usable interior space. Plus the higher driver height gives the officer a better view of traffic and what's going on (especially these days, where most of the other vehicles are SUVs and crossovers too. Bigger bash-bars. Higher-profile tires for less tire/wheel damage in bad places, etc....

I'm guessing that the Explorer probably costs a bit more, but guessing it's not that much more. And for high-speed pursuit maybe the Taurus is better (though most police departments aren't chasing down high-speed drivers these days.

Anyhow, just a random thought as I was sitting in my comparitively "on the ground" 924 next to a pair of Explorers thinking about it...

Related: the Ford police vehicle brochure is kind of fun: https://www.fleet.ford.com/resources/ford/general/pdf/brochures/2018/18_Police_Brochure.pdf

Around my neck of the woods (SW Ohio), I don’t see a lot of Tauruses.  When they and the Explorer came out, it seemed like it was about a 50/50 split between them (for departments that ran Fords), but as time has gone on, I see a lot more Explorers than Tauruses.  I seem to recall there were a lot of complaints about the lack of front seat room versus the Crown Vic, so that may be a major factor in moving towards the Explorer.  The highway patrol and departments that likely have lower budgets still seem to use the Charger, primarily.  Still see Crown Vics, too, but they are fading away fast.

The local PDs still have some Crown Vics in service but for the most part they are transitioning over to either a Chevy or Ford SUV.  I'm not sure if I've seen any Taurus police cars at all, the departments still using cars have Impalas or Chargers.

stuart in mn said:

The local PDs still have some Crown Vics in service but for the most part they are transitioning over to either a Chevy or Ford SUV.  I'm not sure if I've seen any Taurus police cars at all, the departments still using cars have Impalas or Chargers.

That is the fun (?) part about this county, is that FCPD has lots of money, and they always have nice stuff. When I was out on a snow day they had a road blocked and were towing out a car from a ditch with a pair of new F350s in full livery with lights and racks and serious bumpers. Haven't seen a Vic or Imala for several years now. They use Chargers for unmarked only. Plus I've seen plenty of Tahoes, a few random sportscars/coupes for pursuit, motorcycles of course, and vans. Last year there was a *marked* 370Z I saw a few times as well.  Up until last year they used to have an old unmarked Lumina that hung out in the woodland roads. It was a nasty Maroon color, and people just hauled ass right by the radar trap thinking that htere was no way FCPD would ever have such a POS police car lol.

But yeah, lots and lots of Explorers now.

I remember seeing a short film made by Chevrolet in the late 90's promoting the Tahoe as a police vehicle. They were chasing down 4.6L Mustangs.

Aurburn hills started using Chargers as cop cars right when they came out, I assume they were donated by Chrysler as their HQ is there.   Just saw a couple F150's in full livery this weekend,  again near Ford facilities.

In my area, the police forces all use SUV's, either Explorers or Tahoes.

A lot of Explorer and a bit of Tahoe going on around here. Some Taurus and Charger mixed in as well but not as much.

Explorers and Taurus here. I really really want any of those Taurus interceptors. I've been seeing them come up at auctions but still a little out of my price range. 

I've noticed that a lot of larger departments seem to be running a variety of vehicles now.  Not quite sure why though.  NY state has Chargers, Crown Vics, Explorers and Tahoes as the most common ones currently.  Not sure if they've got anything else.  The local sheriffs have a few Crown Vics left.  Everything else is a mix of Caprice / Taurus / Explorer at this point. 

We have a mix of Tahoes and Caprices with a few Impalas and a couple Crown Vics as spare cars. Now that they have quit making the Caprice our fleet guys said Chevrolet is building a Traverse police package. I also heard Ford is discontinuing the Taurus based interceptor. So I guess at this point the only traditional sedan left will be the Charger.

County Sheriffs run a mix of Explorers, Taurus, chargers and a few cvpi's for the new officers.  Local ciy cops run chargers exclusively, next closest town runs Chargers and Explorers, the other town runs Chargers/Durangos exclusively.

You can see my local Sheriffs Department every Friday & Saturday night on TV. They drive the black vehicles...

I regularly see them in Tahoes, Exploders, Chargers, Caprices or Impalas (not sure which is which anymore), Tauri, Crammits, and Challengers. They also have at least one armored vehicle (yes like a tank) but I haven't seen that one driving around...

Interesting to note that the Ford Interceptor catalogue notes you can order all the cars without a security chip in the key. Also the spare tire has a TPMS already installed, are civilian cars like that?

We have a bit of everything around here. From new Explorers and Tahoes to a few old Crown Vics.  Actually saw a black Vic doing speed trap duty this morning. The PA state Police use mostly Tauruses, but there are Explorers as well. 

Mostly Tahoe and explorer here. There is a 2nd gen MS3 unmarked in Red that is running around with a 370z also

Used to date a cop. There’s a huge number of unmarked dodge caravans around here. I never would have known. Still lots of crown Vic’s as before they were discontinued, the city I work for bought hundreds and parked them. 

Because hemi chargers are badass

Our local PD is mostly using the Explorer, but also a quad-cab F-150.  What's up with that? 

It's pretty much all Explorers in the local PDs. Cars are pretty much limited to unmarked or 'marked in such a way that you probably wouldn't notice' Camaros and Mustangs. State troopers and other localities seem to use a lot of Tahoes. I think the basic point OP makes is correct, that performance is 'good enough' and they're more practical in most ways. That goes for SUVs in general, not just for police. Fuel economy has always been the main objective failing point of SUVs and still is. Otherwise, 'tall wagons' by any other name still have all the benefits of tall wagons. The only way they could be better was if they were vans. 

pinchvalve said:

Our local PD is mostly using the Explorer, but also a quad-cab F-150.  What's up with that? 

They must have something they need a truck around for.  Our local sheriffs have an F-350 dually in full colors, etc.  They have horses, so the F-350 is their tow rig. 

Budget. Not all municipalities are swimming in cash. If they can buy 3 cars vs. 2 SUVs, sometimes volume wins.

irish44j said:

stuart in mn said:

The local PDs still have some Crown Vics in service but for the most part they are transitioning over to either a Chevy or Ford SUV.  I'm not sure if I've seen any Taurus police cars at all, the departments still using cars have Impalas or Chargers.

That is the fun (?) part about this county, is that FCPD has lots of money, and they always have nice stuff. When I was out on a snow day they had a road blocked and were towing out a car from a ditch with a pair of new F350s in full livery with lights and racks and serious bumpers. Haven't seen a Vic or Imala for several years now. They use Chargers for unmarked only. Plus I've seen plenty of Tahoes, a few random sportscars/coupes for pursuit, motorcycles of course, and vans. Last year there was a *marked* 370Z I saw a few times as well.  Up until last year they used to have an old unmarked Lumina that hung out in the woodland roads. It was a nasty Maroon color, and people just hauled ass right by the radar trap thinking that htere was no way FCPD would ever have such a POS police car lol.

But yeah, lots and lots of Explorers now.

Nothing against you Irish.  I gave that a thumbs down because it seems a huge waste to the taxpayer.  

the staties around here have a blue taurus, unmarked, with the child sun shades int he back window...

I remember back to the big blizzard we had in ‘09.  I went home to visit my dad.  WV State Police were using all Tahoes and / or equivalents.  VA State Police?  Crown Vics plus chains.  I kid you not.  I felt good about that being a Virginia taxpayer.

Mostly explorers Tahoe's and caprices is what I see around here.