Branford P.D.
The New Year begins for the police with four 2014 Ford Explorers, each with bold Branford Police lettering on the outside, a state-of the art office on the inside and plastic seats designed for handcuffed prisoners in the SUVs’ rear.
Like many police departments in the nation, Branford was faced with difficult automobile choices after Ford Motor Co. decided in 2011 to end production of the Ford Crown Victoria, considered by most police agencies across the nation as the workhorse of cruisers.
Capt. Raymond Dunbar (pictured above), who oversees the department’s fleet, said the department found five new leftover Crown Victorias in 2012 to purchase for 2013. That gave the department, he said, “an entire year to assess all of our patrol vehicle options for the upcoming year.
“By doing so, we could learn from a multitude of other police agencies that have made the transitions to a number of different manufacturers and models and select the best patrol cruiser for Branford.”
The department also learned from its own 2010 Ford Explorer SUV.
Police Capt. Geoffrey Morgan said the department had recent experience with the SUV because it is now being used as part of the department’s so-called traffic “ghost” fleet. The “ghost” cop vehicles are all black, with shadowy, ghostlike police lettering, whose identification as a police vehicle is still visible in case the vehicle is involved in a chase.
These stealth cars, Morgan said, are set up specifically to handle traffic and motor vehicle violations. They are used 40 hours a week. The new Explorers will be used 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, he said.
There are two stealth vehicles, the Ford Explorer SUV and a Ford Taurus. By way of an update these two vehicles are still going strong, driven daily by Officer Bryan McGinnis and Officer Rich Kenney, Jr. Both officers said their primary objective is to get drivers to change bad driving habits, such as texting while driving or driving aggressively. (Click here to read an earlier story).
When Ford decided to end the Crown Victoria (or “Crown Vic”) model, “everyone talked about it,” Morgan said. “It affected police departments nationwide, not just the Branford police.”
The new 2014 Explorers, like the stealth vehicles, are mini-offices, each with computers in the front part of the vehicle along with radar devices, e‑tickets, lasers, and keyboards. The 2014 models have to be outfitted with brand new accessories because they are new to the department.
“You can’t transfer the cage from the Crown Vic to the Explorer,” Morgan said. “It doesn’t fit.”
The Crown Vics separated the rear of the car from the front; the new Explorer model contains sections.
Chief Kevin Halloran said that the feedback from the officers has been very positive. “Our officers spend upwards to eight hours a day in these cruisers, and they become their mobile office. I think Capt. Dunbar has made a good selection balancing the needs of the officers and the agency, the proven track record of Ford police vehicles, while remaining fiscally responsible to the citizens of this community.”
Capt. Morgan said the vehicles themselves are not that expensive. Making them police vehicles raises the price. The department incurs that cost only once, when the new vehicle is purchased.
The four new police vehicles, which were included in the current budget, cost a total of about $120,000, plus the additional money needed to transform them into police vehicles.
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