By Bill Miller, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
DALLAS -- City Attorney Madeleine Johnson insists that Ford Motor Company produce comprehensive safety reports on its Crown Victoria police cars, and agree to do it by Dec. 2 or be sued.
Johnson’s demands were made during a news conference Friday, nearly a month after Officer Patrick Metzler, 31, died Oct. 23 when his Crown Victoria Police Interceptor burst into flames after a rear-end collision on U.S. 75.
She said city officials need Ford’s data on rear-end crashes to help decide whether the vehicle is a safe patrol car for Dallas officers to keep driving.
“We are hoping Ford will cooperate with us, but if not, we will take legal action to get the information we need,” Johnson said. “We will do everything we can to protect our officers.”
Johnson said she wants the information delivered through “sworn testimony” because some test results obtained by the city don’t clearly state whether the cars’ gas tanks are adequately protected.
She added the city also demands that Ford provide additional safety upgrades to the nearly 1,000 Crown Victorias operated by the city.
Ford announced on Sept. 27 that it would put shields around gas tanks on 350,000 police vehicles across the nation. By the time of Metzler’s death nearly a month later, the city had not yet received its shields.
After the accident, however, Ford began rushing the upgrade kits to Dallas. Police Chief Terrell Bolton said Friday that about 120 shields have been installed, and the rest ought to be completed by year’s end.
Johnson said the city also wants shields installed on each car’s frame.
She said an investigation of Metzler’s car showed that its gas tank was punctured in four places, and one of the punctures came from the frame. Johnson said investigators believe that hole was too small to cause the fire by itself, but city officials worry about future punctures from the vehicles’ frames.
Johnson said that Metzler died from burns over 98 percent of his body and smoke inhalation.
“He had no broken bones, so death was not caused by trauma,” Johnson said. “In other words, Officer Metzler probably would have walked away from this accident if it had not been for fire.”
Ford spokeswoman Kristen Kinley said Friday that company officials could not comment about the city’s demands until they finished reading Johnson’s letter and have reviewed the investigation of Metzler’s death.
“Typically, when we get letters like this, we definitely work with any government agency or consumer advocacy groups and address their concerns as best we can,” Kinley said. “But our position is that the Crown Victoria is a safe vehicle, and the recommendations we made in September will help improve the safety of police officers.”
Several class-action lawsuits from across the country were recently centralized through a federal court ruling in Cleveland, said attorney David Perry of Corpus Christi, who was hired to advise the city about Crown Victoria legal issues.
Perry said after Friday’s press conference that he sits on the executive committee of the class-action plaintiffs. He noted that 13 people have died in Crown Victoria explosions. Four cases have already been settled with Ford, but he couldn’t discuss those agreements because they are confidential.
“The bottom line is Ford needs to make these vehicles safe so that an officer involved in an accident does not burn alive,” Perry said.
Phil Metzler, the officer’s father, said he had not talked to city officials about their findings or actions. He said relatives have not decided what, if any, legal actions they will take, adding that he was waiting to talk to representatives who were involved with the city’s review.
“All I can say is this is an accident that should not have resulted in the death of my son. -- He should still be walking around out there somewhere,” he said.