Marlborough's Police Cruisers And The Carbon Monoxide Concern

MARLBOROUGH, MA—Last week, numerous cruisers in the Austin, TX, police department tested positive for high levels of carbon monoxide in the vehicles. The issue prompted Ford to issue a statement that it would fix any of these Ford Explorer models that are experiencing issues.

On Wednesday, the issue popped up in Massachusetts, with an Auburn officers passing out and crashing into another vehicle because of high levels of carbon monoxide in his Ford Explorer police SUV.
It prompted not only a flurry of media attention, but also concern that swept police departments across the state.

In Marlborough, there are 12Ford Explorer/Interceptor SUVs in the police department's fleet. Nine of those vehicles are from 2013-2017, which are considered "affected vehicles" by Ford.

"Last week we reached out to MHQ who installs all of our after-market equipment and we have been in contact with surrounding departments," Police Chief David Giorgi told Patch. "In addition, we have notified all sworn officers about the concerns and made recommendations on properly ventilating the cruisers until the CO2 problems can be resolved. We are also in the process on purchasing temporary CO2 detectors for the cruisers."

"Safety is our top priority and we are concerned for those involved," said a spokesperson from Ford in response to the Auburn issue. "We are working with the Auburn Police Department and have a team in Massachusetts on the way to inspect their vehicles and modifications made to them. It’s premature to draw conclusions from what happened in Auburn after reports of carbon monoxide at levels of 13 parts per million in the vehicle. According to the Massachusetts Environmental Affairs, ‘most people do not begin to feel the effects of carbon monoxide poisoning until they have been exposed to levels of at least 200 parts per million for several hours or more.’ Given this discrepancy, more investigating is required.”

Photo Credit: Marlborough Police