By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
Decades of progress in making cooler, faster, more race-car like patrol cars took a turn for the worse when LAPD, at the behest of (of course) the mayor and city suits, handed down a rather puny runt of a patrol car. While this car might be good for a general purpose civilian strip mall warrior, in police culture it does not cut the mustard.
The city stuck the PD with some of the city’s 160 BMW i3 electric vehicles. While I certainly applaud this for a general purpose city vehicle as I am a supporter of electric cars, but an i3 patrol car? No thank you. When first reading USA Today’s article announcing this, one of my first thoughts was that rookies better hang low for a few months.
Usually rookies are handed the older cars when they are released to patrol because, well, they tend to wreak them. The awarding of a new patrol car to a newbie is rare and consequently bestows bragging rights. But for those at the LAPD they might receive a rather pyric victory, a hand-me-down nobody wants.
We need to be realistic here. Young men and women did not go into the police profession to drive golf carts or shuttles at country clubs. They demand a hard driving machine that will dominate the roads and interstates. They also want to be taken seriously when the roll up on an incident. Most assigned to patrol will spend the largest part of their shift inside. You want a car you and the public will respect and one you will enjoy driving.
Here are some examples:
This is a patrol car, the standard issue Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor; commonly referred to as a Crown-Vic. It is the workhorse of the American police world. It is also tough and can take a lot of abuse. Fully equipped, it weighs around two tons.
This is Michigan’s Dodge Charger. The Charger is more like a race car than a traditional police vehicle. They have, depending on model, 325-375 horse-power V-8 Hemis. They handle beautifully yet when running through the gears on a fast course they sound just angry. They’re also Comfortable to drive and actually had decent stereos. For me this was the best patrol card made.
For those who like the size of an SUV, California did well with theirs. It is especially good when you are working in a remote area, far from the office. It too has a high level of “presence”.
But here we go with LAPD’s newest venture:
What on Earth is this nonsense?
The mayor shows that you can plug it in, just like your child’s other toys. Batteries are included.
Hard Core gangs are surely going to tremble in fear when they see Mayor Garcetti and Chief Beck roll up in this intimidator on a hot Friday night. Maybe these bangers might laugh themselves into a stupor and forget about robbing convenience stores. Maybe the chief can hang in the back window a Baby-On-Board sign and drive around the mall.
I am sure BMW was thrilled to see LAPD surprisingly adopt their product. Good for them at least. Their marketing department might awaken to potential sales in areas such as Portland, Oregon for patrolling streets crowded with Hipster coffee shops and art galleries. Speaking of which, I suspect it might on the other hand be a way to sniff out suspected Hipsters who have infiltrated police departments. Just park one of these LAPD buggies in the back lot, and see who drives off with it.
I’ll bet these two guys might fall victim to such a sting operation:
Unfortunately, the LAPD did not learn from its last unsuccessful foray into alternative police vehicles. I remember those dark days well. I hoped this would never be repeated as it was a low point in relations between the police guilds and the city. Sadly, they are going down this road once again.
By Darren Smith
Sources:
USA Today
Wikipedia: Photo credits of real patrol cars
The views expressed in this posting are the author’s alone and not those of the blog, the host, or other weekend bloggers. As an open forum, weekend bloggers post independently without pre-approval or review. Content and any displays or art are solely their decision and responsibility.
@ Isaac
Exactly. Each family or person has different circumstances and needs. It isn’t the small compact or electric car that I object to. They are perfectly fine for the purposes intended or the needs of the individual. I still miss my 1968 VW beetle that I drove around while living in the city. Small, easy to park, great gas mileage. However, that vehicle or type of vehicle would not be practical for us.
What I object to is the Central Planners trying to shove a one size fits all mandate onto the people.
Growing up in Canada we had the American 4 door sedan: Ford, Pontiac Parisienne, Mercury, etc. With a family of six and not much money, the car with the homemade rack and surplus military tents, cots, etc on top took us every summer for weeks through the Rockies, Banff, Jasper, etc. Not until the Volkswagen microbus came along could you do that cheaper.
However, we also had a small compact that used substantially less gas, for commuting during the week. Most families have two cars. Most typically will use one for long and heavy hauls and the other for convenience. If this ‘second car’ was electric, hydrogen, etc. the amount of gas consumed would decrease substantially, technology would advance substantially, the infrastructure would develop substantially, etc.
Unless you run a business the average family does not need two major Detroit Specials that get the minimum gas mileage. That family didn’t need it in the sixties, seventies, eighties, nineties, and doesn’t need it now. The smart family has a major car for major jobs like carrying hydraulic machines around, and a smaller more advanced fuel alternative vehicle for running to the store or driving one’s self to work and back.
When they can make an electric vehicle that can carry a ton of tools and supplies, like our current service truck …
BTW….that is a LITERAL ton of tools. Hydraulic equipment, generator, compressors etc.
Electric cars are a joke for the normal population that lives outside of urban compacted areas….such as SF.
Hubby and I were coming back from our monthly or sometimes semi monthly shopping trip for food and supplies and were speculating on the stupidity of trying to force EVERYONE in the State of California to drive electric vehicles. Sure…..If I still lived in the SF area, I might…..might….consider having one for those short hops but would still need a REAL car to drive any distances and hope to get back in the same week.
Electric vehicles would never ever work in many areas, ours in particular. Here is why
1. The round trip for shopping is about 180 miles and that doesn’t include driving around once in the town to do all the shopping or errands which is probably an additional 40 miles. We would run out of electrical juice before that. If the car used gasoline, we would be relying on that anyway. What is the POINT of the electrical other than to make some people feel good. (Let’s not even discuss the costs and environmental degradation caused by producing the batteries in the first place.)
2. So….in addition to the already lengthy drive we would have to spend an additional few hours just charging up the toy vehicle. PLUS….there are not any public charging stations available and even IF they did install some, they would be few and far between and likely have a waiting line to use them.
3. IF we are traveling in the winter, heat, deicing, windshield wipers, lights would drain the battery and we would be stuck on the side of the road road in the snow and ice. In the summer, we couldn’t use A/C either again for the sucking of the electrical charge. It was 108 degrees a few days ago… What fun!!!
4. Here is the biggie……there is NO ROOM to carry much of anything. Our full sized SUV is packed to the gills when we go to town. There is no purpose to having a weenie little car that can’t transport anything.
That is just for personal driving. How about for those people who have businesses and commercial operations? The distance between jobs for my husband’s business is often a round trip of 120 miles and sometimes he has to make more than one trip to finish a job, drive back and get additional supplies after diagnosing the situation.. He would have to stop and charge his car several times during the day, losing money and productivity each time. Not to mention that the weenie clown car can’t carry anything anyway!
NO POWER. When they can make an electric vehicle that can carry a ton of tools and supplies, like our current service truck ……..or an electric vehicle that can haul 3 tons of gravel…….or an electric vehicle that can haul a John Deere backhoe/tractor…….then we can talk. Until then…..take your State wide mandates and shove them where the sun doesn’t shine.
The people in SF or other areas who want electric vehicles…..go for it. I don’t want to take away YOUR choices, why do you want to take away ours? Leave the rest of us to live our lives.
This one size fits all thinking by the moron political class that we have is not going to work. Cut Sacramento loose…….. State of Jefferson FTW.
In the past some small town police departments had experimented with alternatives to the large, expensive, gas guzzling cruisers in order to save money. There was a police department that incorporated a ‘Le Car’ or Renault Five to save gas when gas prices were astronomical. In the end the car simply would not stand up and the repair bills ended up eclipsing the gas savings.
For most police activities the basic ‘cruiser’ is the best vehicle. However, these environments are the best place to test the quality of new technology. If the department used the electric vehicles in a peripheral manner, not relying on them for chasing down criminals in ‘muscle’ cars, and if they used them on a regular basis, the manufacturer would receive the best ‘shake down’ cruise available.
I often wonder why alternative energy concepts such as electric vehicles, hydrogen fueled vehicles, and others that need to be recharged or fueled at a specific and not readily available source, aren’t being folded into the picture for use in areas where they could easily be recharged, refueled, i.e., in contained areas such as cities. Why aren’t delivery trucks, postal vehicles, and other government vehicles, run on hydrogen fuel, electricity, etc.?
What do you think?
Man patrols the streets in a car like that… They know he’s not afraid of *anything*.
Black balls absorb the suns heat and make the water warmer and permit fungus to grow in the reservoir.
I think the range for the i3 is roughly 100 miles with a 2 hour recharge. The optional gas engine provides slightly more range. That is for the civilian version. How does additional police equipment such as lights and radio affect range?
Does anyone have any idea how many miles for a typical tour by an officer? What is the contingency plan for officers to remain on duty beyond their scheduled tour?
If I ever get arrested, it would be an honor and a pleasure to be driven in a Lamborghini Gallardo police car. Post bail in a few seconds and get another ride for another offense.
God, give those to the meter readers
Francie – I am sure our meter readers would enjoy the a/c but they have 3 wheel motorbikes.
So, who is the Mayor?
BitchinDog – the real question is Who is going to be the next Mayor?
Love BAILERS comment! I think they cars are fine. Might not hurt to bring a little humility to the streets. I like normal cops.
Jane – maybe they are going to go with the old Italian plan. They had those little cars that were too slow to catch the fast Italian cars, so they bought two Ferraris and put them at each end of the country. Regardless of which way you were going they could catch you.
One dumb $hit mayor, from the balls in the reservoirs to cycle villa to this B.S.
” from the balls in the reservoirs to cycle villa to this B.S.”
I thought the balls were actually working to slow down evaporation?
How much you want to bet they quickly get assigned to the parking meter patrols?
This is hard to believe. These cars will not take the daily grind, pursuits, and abuse they will be put through.
This has to be a mistake. Where will the apprehended go?
This car is good for the civilian population, but as a police cruiser it’s a dangerous joke.
” What is this car missing that a slower, more bulky and sluggish car has?”
Umm …. room for equipment? Is this a trick question?
0 to 60 at 6.5 seconds – meh.
92 mph top speed – I hope Rodney King doesn’t hear. We can only hope all future fleeing felons follow the good citizenship example of OJ Simpson.
I wonder if they bought the optional gas engine? Do PBA rules allow the officer to push the i3 back to DHQ when they run out of power or does DHQ send out a K9 with a long extension cord?
OK, who wants to handle to pool for how it takes till they surplus the i3s and buy a real car?
If it makes the officer assigned to this car feel better, I’d be perfectly fine buying some type of appendage to put inside the officer’s pants to help compensate for not getting to drive a car that looks cool.
Tony Sidaway – you have to admit the culprits will be laughing themselves silly when this rolls up to the scene. No self-respecting villain would allow themselves to be driven to jail in this.
I’m not really clear why you think this car isn’t an excellent choice for police patrol. Electric cars have better acceleration than other cars. What is this car missing that a slower, more bulky and sluggish car has?
Nice to see the Mayor saw fit to “buy American.”