Police Patrol Cars Will Feature New Look

The borough’s t will soon have two new patrol cars on the roads which will feature a new design reminiscent of a classic look.

The new Caprice vehicles made by Chevy, which are strictly for police and government use, were recently brought home to the borough. Now, members of the department are finalizing the design for the striping and researching details for the equipment which will be installed in the vehicles, Chief Michael Colaneri explained.

Ford no longer makes the Crown Victoria and Chevy no longer makes the Impala, the chief said, adding that the new Caprice has a classic look with white doors and black fenders.

The two new vehicles will replace two of the oldest vehicles in the current fleet, Colaneri said. It’s like a constant rotation, he said, explaining that the department keeps some of its oldest vehicles on hand to serve at traffic posts or when an outside contractor such as PSE&G comes in to do roadwork or utility repairs and police presence is needed at the site.

The department charges these outside contractors a fee for its assistance which is then put into a fund to be used towards vehicle maintenance and the replenishment of equipment, Colaneri explained. Most of the money used towards the purchase of these two new Caprice vehicles came from this fund, he explained.

He started the fund after he became chief when he had noted how much maintenance costs had increased on these vehicles due to wear and tear from running about 8 to 10 hours a day at these sites.  The department charges outside contractors one flat fee and then an additional fee per hour. The chief explained some days the department can bring in a few hundred dollars a day if more than one car is out at one of these work sites.

Each of the new Caprice vehicles costs about $25,000 each, he said, and the department is still waiting on some final pricing for some of the equipment that may need to be purchased. The interior design of the older vehicles, such as the Chevy Impala, verses the new Caprice vehicles, may result in the need for the purchase of new equipment if some items can not be transferred to the new vehicles. However Colaneri stated that they will try to utilize as much of the older equipment as possible. The Caprice was designed to have a larger interior in order to accommodate police equipment, the chief said.

If it is determined that all new equipment is needed for both cars it could cost about an additional $10,000 per vehicle.

The total cost for the purchase of the new vehicles and all new equipment, if it is needed, would be about $65,000, of which $25,000 would come from the department budget and the rest from the fund paid for by outside contractors.

To keep up with the classic design of the new Caprice vehicles, Colaneri said he is looking into having the newest older vehicles which are about two years old painted black and white by a technical school in order to eliminate costs.

As for the oldest vehicles that are found to be too costly to repair, they will eventually be auctioned off Colaneri said. Funds from these auctions, which usually take place about once year, go into the departments general fund which is also used to purchase equipment.