Out with the old, in with the new

An interesting side-story of sorts concerning local police departments developed from the economic crisis and the previous year's soaring fuel costs. With every municipality worried about their financial future, more and more town agencies and departments are taking steps to tighten their belts. 

One way this has manifested itself has been in the gradual shift away from the classic Ford Crown Victoria Interceptor model that so many police departments in the past have deployed. Disappearing are the iconic police cruisers of yesteryear, so well ingrained in the American imagination as the standard for a "cop car."

Police department's in my area, southern New Hampshire, are making the switch to alternative models and brands as they attempt to cut back on fuel and maintenance costs. In Pelham, NH the police chief is asking selectmen to give him permission to lease seven new Chevrolet Impalas. 

Nearby Windham began making the same transition a little under a year ago and now employs four marked Impalas and two more for administrative purposes. 

According to both of the police chiefs, John Roark and Gerald Lewis, the Impalas are a front wheel drive, six-cylinder vehicle with less cabin space than the older eight-cylinder, rear wheel drive Crown Vic models. 

The advantages include better braking, better handling in adverse weather and lower mileage. Lewis told me that it would take a few more months to determine if the vehicles could handle the full-time rigors of police work, but overall he has been pleased with their performances. 

They also use up less fuel than their eight-cylinder Ford counterparts. 

New Hampshire's State Police force has also begun switching over to the Dodge Charger model designed for police work. 

So far Salem has only begun to consider the option and still employes a sizable fleet of Crown Vics across a multitude of town departments. 

Still, from talking to Chief Roark, who went out to Milwaukee this past year for the annual police cruiser car show, it looks more and more like the classic "cop car" is on the way out in favor of smaller, more efficiently built vehicles. 

(video: Chief Gerald Lewis of the Windham Police Department explaining the advantages of employing the smaller Chevy Impala cruiser for routine police work)