Laguna Beach Police Go Back To Black And White Patrol Cars

LAGUNA BEACH, CA —Laguna Beach's finest will now surf and protect out of these black and white beauties, the city council decided at their meeting. The new fleet of vehicles are styled after the pre-1970s "more traditional look," a police department spokesman said.

The council approved the vote, unanimously, and the new look will start appearing in March, according to reports. The council decided, unanimously, upon the predominantly black vehicles boasting a sporty and Laguna Beach looking POLICE block letter design over white doors.

Laguna Beach was one of the last cities in Orange County to continue the all-white police vehicles, but Police Chief Laura Farinella told the council:

"We want to be recognizable when they flag us over," she said. "(The new design) gives us more forward-facing visibility in our community."

Captain Jeff Calvert says that being able to distinguish cars as law enforcement quickly is critical.

"In some cases, private guards have been misidentified as police officers," he said. "There have been complaints about officers where it turned out to be complaints about private security guards."

This switch will also help when police go to assist other agencies.

"Black and white units respond to our city from other agencies," he said. When they respond to incidents, white vehicles are not clearly identified as police cars" right away.

Changing back to black and whites will assist with Laguna Beach being a unified front, with the same color scheme as the rest of the county.

Currently, the department has 10 Ford Explorers and one Chevy Tahoe, driven by the Watch Commander, in its fleet. The LBPD will start their transformation with the six brand new vehicles they are adding to their lot.