Everett to Spend $500,000.00 to Replace 15 Police Cars with Sport Utility Vehicles

The Everett City Council today voted unanimously to spend half a million dollars on 15 Sport Utility Vehicles to begin replacing the city’s aging police cars. The replacement funds come from the 2013 and 2014 budgets and are not an unanticipated expense. The vehicles, known as Police Interceptor Utility replace the Crown Victoria models discontinued by Ford. Everett Police Chief Kathy Atwood says, “The Everett Police Department tested numerous vehicles and after carefully dissecting the economics, we determined this vehicle is the best fit for us. I am excited for this process to move forward as these vehicles provide good visibility, have a solid safety record, provide more transport room than our current fleet and are comfortable.”
The Sport Utility Vehicles have eco-boost V-6 engines and get about 8% better gas mileage than the cars they are replacing according to Clark Langstraat with the city. He added that the police department goes thru 69,000 gallons of gas each year so they do expect some savings over time. These first 15 vehicles won’t be delivered until 2014 and will sport a new paint and graphics scheme which is still being worked out.