Within the next two weeks, new Toledo police vehicles will hit the streets.
At a news conference today, Chief Derrick Diggs and Mayor Mike Bell announced the additions to the fleet, which will replace older vehicles.
New to the department are 28 2014 Ford Interceptor sedans, 25 2014 Ford Interceptor sport-utility vehicles, 51 Ford Fusions, seven E-150 vans, five police wagons, and 1 Ford Expedition.
The 117 vehicles were purchased from Brondes Ford on Secor Road. Money for the new vehicles came from the city's capital improvement fund, said Jen Sorgenfrei, the city's spokesman.
PHOTO GALLERY: New Toledo Police vehicles
The total cost of the vehicles was approximately $3,471,603, which includes the additional cost of equipment -- such as computers, spot lights, and weapons racks.
The department, Chief Diggs said, is the first in the country to have the new 2014 Ford police vehicles.
The new vehicles will make officers safer on the road, he said.
Features include: all-wheel drive, higher seating and better visibility, improved stability control, dual spotlights, dual weapon racks (which hold a shotgun and rifle), front seats designed for officers wearing duty belts and cutouts for handguns, improved LED lighting, extra-wide doors, and 75 mph rear-crash rating.
The new vehicles also get better gas mileage -- 16 city miles and 20 highway miles, a 20 percent improvement over the 2006 Crown Victoria cars.
The cars also sport a new graphic design.
"They just look so dynamic," said Mayor Bell.
First Published September 4, 2013, 3:59 p.m.
