For years, the Ford Crown Victoria has been known as the law-enforcement vehicle of choice.
That is changing as the Ford Motor Company has rolled out its new model for law-enforcement agencies — the 2013 Police Intercepters.
The new vehicle is drawing rave reviews from members of the Nicholasville Police Department.
“This is my fourth car, and it’s the first one that wasn’t the Crown Vic, and it’s the best thing that I’ve had,” officer Erik Cobb, a six-year veteran with the NPD, said. “It’s all-wheel drive, which is awesome, and it’s very aggressive when you need it to be. It’s lighter and smaller and more compact.”
Officer Kevin Grimes said Ford did a lot of studying in order to come up with this new breed of law-enforcement vehicle.
“This vehicle was designed for police officers,” Grimes said. “They took lots of different input from lots of different police agencies across the nation in order to see what makes it more comfortable for officers. The seats are wider, and they have some cutouts where your gun goes, and that sort of thing.”
Grimes said the new V6 vehicle is all-wheel drive compared to the Crown Victoria’s rear-wheel drive.
“It’s a totally different concept that what we’ve been used to in years past,” Grimes said.
The NPD purchased six of the interceptors at a cost of $25,000 each, Grimes said.
“The department had to add the computers, lights, sirens, radio equipment, prisoner cages — all of that had to be added,” he said.
The feedback from the officers driving the new cars has been positive.
“So far, we’ve gotten nothing but positive comments on these vehicles,” Grimes said. “There’s a little bit more room in the back of these than what there is in the Crown Vic. They did some design things that made this vehicle different. It’s got a higher roof line, which gives you more head room.”
Cobb said other things he likes about the Police Interceptor are the safety features like having the radio, siren and light switches on the steering wheel.
“It keeps your hands on the wheel,” he said.
