NIU police give hybrids glowing reviews Toyota Prius squad cars save 4,500 gallons of fuel for 2005 fiscal year Hybrid squad cars saved 4,500 gallons of fuel in 2005. DeKALB | Once considered an innovation of the not-too-distant future, working with and operating hybrid vehicles has become a part of the daily routine for the NIU police force. The Toyota Prius, the first hybrid vehicle to be mass produced and marketed to a worldwide base of consumers since its 1997 unveiling in Japan, has grown to comprise eighty percent of the police department's fleet since the university began testing the hybrid waters in 2004. Two years later, regrets for making the switch are hard to come by. 'Perfect car for the job' "It's done everything that it's been asked to do," said officer Marc Roccaforte, a staunch supporter of the Ford Crown Victoria, previously the department's vehicle of choice. Not only was Roccaforte a fan of the Crown Victoria in the field of work, but it has also been his personal vehicle of choice for years. Nevertheless, it did not take him long to warm to the Prius. "I would have to say that it's the perfect car for the job. It performs to the level that we need, and has done everything that we have expected," he said. Read more.
Related: http://www.niu.edu/PubAffairs/RELEASES/200...hybrids06.shtml http://www.niu.edu/northerntoday/2004/june14/gascar.shtml
Now there's some glowing reviews. After all, if you can't trust the police ([cough] Schmika [cough]) who can you? The only problem is that they got this tid-bit of information from the Classic Prius.
Cool, it makes sense for a university police to drive priuses. Not sure the Prius is a replacement for all Police Cars but hey, it's a start!
I can hardly wait 'till they start auctioning off the pursuit/interceptor version of the Prius - cool...
Yeah, when I took delivery of my Driftwood Pearl, I stopped by the campus police department to get my campus parking permit transferred. A crowd of campus cops seemed interested, and I mentioned that the NIU police used the Prius hybrid on their campus, but alas, the State of Kansas purchasing contracts mandated they replace their vehicles with the police cruiser edition of the Dodge Charger... government in action.
I bet the air quality on campus is a bit cleaner without all those idling Crown Vics, too. First one to post a pic of 2 police Prii parked at an off campus Dunkin Donuts should win something, don't you think?
My campus security is still using Crown Vics but we do have several NEVs for plant operations and smarts for parking services. A few "foot patrol" security officers use Segways (not sure why, but okay). They seem to be anti-hybrid lol. I've seen several hybrids (mostly Priuses of both generations and one Camry Hybrid) but they're almost always student/faculty member owned and not used as a university vehicle.
Hi All, This thread makes me want to drive out to Dekalb, and speed around the NIU campus in my 2006 Prius, until I get pulled over by a Prius Police car, then take a picture! HA!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jkash @ Sep 14 2006, 06:21 AM) [snapback]319429[/snapback]</div> with a cheesy grin. "We edam up on traffic chases. It's as gouda car as you can get. A real muenster!"
Just so we're clear, from the article I gather these are not being used as police interceptors. Sworn officers are not using these vehicles for enforcement on public highways, for example.
Basically right. Most "campus cops" spend their time idling around the campus and rarely hit the highway. Almost all of the miles are city miles. For example, the campus police here have most of their patrol areas on the main campus in the middle of town, but there are some university-owned facilities several miles off-campus that they also patrol. I can't speak for NIU, but here the campus police are sworn officers and function at the same level as city/county police. They can issue traffic citations, execute search warrants, arrest suspects, perform official investigations, etc. But because of their campus-related jurisdiction and the location of their patrols, the vast majority of the time they're driving 10-30 mph. If they're chasing a suspect, it would be simply unsafe to be going 70+ mph. In my opinion, you don't need a Crown Vic, Chevy Impala, or Dodge Charger to accomplish that job. So IMO, while the Prius may not be adequate for the highway patrol, it would be a great solution for small law enforcement agencies like campus police. I think this article from the NIU campus supports that assertion.
It's too bad these calculations only consider miles travelled; why can't they just quote all the money spent on gas... don't the cops expense every fill-up? Seems like it would be an easier way to account for ALL the gas saved, idling included. I wouldn't be surprised in a Crown Victoria that the idled gas wasted was greater than the gas wasted driving! This story should be shown to every campus police department... and the department that funds them. Every small town police department too - the town I grew up in has never had a high speed chase to be sure, but damned if they see reason to turn the car off when they get out to direct traffic or knock on someone's door.
