Jackson, Madison and Ridgeland will all be buying new police cruisers this year, but at least one agency won’t be going with the Dodge Chargers and two others hadn’t decided what vehicles they’ll be going with.
Local law enforcement began using the Chargers years ago after the iconic Crown Victoria were discontinued.
However, officials have had numerous problems with the vehicles, including a number of recalls, that have forced departments to take them off of the streets to be repaired.
“We will not be buying Chargers again,” said Jackson Police Chief Lee Vance.
Vance, who could not discuss the mechanical issues with the vehicles, said the department has always preferred Fords, but said they were not available the last time JPD purchased cruisers two years ago.
“There’s always been the consensus that Ford has worked better for us … it’s just a preference of ours,” he said. “A lot of officers don’t like the Chargers, but they’re not mechanics either.”
Jackson is expected to purchase at least 40 new vehicles in fiscal year 2018. Right now, the Jackson Police Department has about 450 vehicles, including patrol and detective vehicles, trucks and support and service vehicles.
Chief John Neal, with the Ridgeland Police Department, said his agency quit buying Chargers last year, citing a number of mechanical problems.
“Every year there is an issue coming out that Dodge has to address,” he said.
For a two-year period, the problems were a constant, with the department having to replace lifters, radiator fans and control arms on the suspension.
The vehicles have also had a number of recalls. In 2012, Chrysler Group recalled nearly 10,000 Charger police cruisers because of problems with a fuse in the anti-lock brake system and because of a headlamp jumper harness, according to an article on Cnet.com.
The Web site quoted the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), saying the problems, if not fixed, “could lead to the loss of visibility and/or breaking ability, increasing the risk of crash.”
Capt. Kevin Newman, with the Madison Police Department, said his agency will be purchasing vehicles for the first time in four years. However, he said leaders had not decided on what make or model.
“We’ve had a lot of problems with the Charger over the last four, five or six years – brakes and fuel pumps to front end problems. They were all repaired under warranty, but it’s still a problem when you have to them off the road and have several vehicles with the same problem.”
Newman, who has been with Madison for 11 years, said the agency switched to the Charger because it was larger than Ford’s replacement to the Crown Victoria, the iconic sedan that was the choice of many law enforcement agencies for years.
The auto giant stopped producing the Crown Vic police interceptor in 2011.
“What Ford came out with afterward was a police package interceptor. The problem with those cars was that they are smaller than what we used to have. Nowadays, even though technology is getting smaller, we’re putting more equipment in the cars. We have laptop modules, camera systems – that takes up a lot of space,” he said. “It used to be very easy for second officers to get into the passenger seat. Now, in the smaller Ford, it’s very uncomfortable for the passenger.
“One of the reasons we went to the Charger was it was about as wide as the LTD.”
The Crown Vic was part of Ford’s LTD lineup.
Madison will be purchasing 17 vehicles this year, and is looking at everything from sports utility vehicles to sedans. “Everything’s on the table,” Newman said.
It’s unclear how much city repair expenses have been impacted by problems with the Chargers Madison’s police vehicle maintenance budget grew from $55,549 in 2008 to $78,000 in 2018, City Clerk Susan Crandall said. Based on inflation, the repair budget should have been around $65,000, according to the CPI Inflation Calculator.
Ridgeland’s maintenance budget has actually decreased, going from $123,000 in 2007 to $93,581 in fiscal year 2017 and $104,965 for 2018, City Clerk Paula Tierce said.
Figures for Jackson were not readily available.
The 2018 budget year began on October 1.
Because of problems with the Chargers, Ridgeland purchased six Ford Explorers in 2017, even after exhaust problems with the vehicles were reported.
In July, NHTSA was investigating Ford Explorers built between 2011 and 2017, after complaints arose that leaks in the exhaust system were causing carbon monoxide to enter the vehicles’ cabins, according to an article at Consumerreports.org.
Ford explained the emission control issues were a result from the post-construction fitting of the police package, which included adding light bars and other equipment, Neal said.
“So far, we’ve only had two or three of them with emissions issues. That was after we bought them. We took them to our local Ford dealer, who worked with us to identify and (make) some additional fixes,” he said. “So far that seems to have worked.”
Right now, Ridgeland is doing a gas mileage assessment on its fleet, information that will be used to determine what vehicles will be purchased next.
Chargers get an average of 10 to 11 miles a gallon, compared to 11 for the Fords, he said.
“It sounds low when you look at the sticker on the vehicle and it says 17 to 18 miles per gallon. That’s drive time. If they get out on a crash, they could sit there and idle for 30 minutes while they’re waiting for the accident to clear. If they go on a domestic (call), they may sit idle for 15 to 20 times,” Neal said.
Vance said his department will consult with other agencies and look at other factors, including which vehicles are available and which ones are on state contract, before going with a certain make and model.
The longtime chief said new vehicles are needed not only to replace high-mileage cars near the end of their lives. They’re also needed to help JPD project the right message to the community.
Because the department has been unable to purchase vehicles in recent years, some cars have had to be cannibalized. Parts off of wrecked vehicles have been placed on cruisers that are still in service to help cut maintenance costs.
“You’ll see some of our vehicles now that are half white and half brown. We want our vehicles clean, something that our citizens will look at and say, ‘those are our police cars,’” he said. “We want are cars to look good and our officers to be comfortable in them.”
