By Schuyler Kropf
The Post and Courier
Ford Motor Co.'s Crown Victoria -- the most popular police cruiser in history and credited for chasing bad guys since the early 1980s -- is disappearing from the assembly line this year.
And that’s caused a mad dash among local police agencies to scoop up as many of the high-performance, safety-conscious vehicles as they can before time runs out.
Mount Pleasant is getting 25 of them this year. City of Charleston police ordered 35. North Charleston’s department plans to pick up 40 through lease-purchase. Cost: $22,800 each.
“It’s a legend going down,” North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey said.
And for some in law enforcement, it’s also a reason to look back. The “Crown Vic” went into service long before many current police officers were born, yet it’s been roundly accepted by those in the field for its handling, crash-safety features and reasonably swift 235 horsepower V-8 engine.
“They’re an absolute tank,” Mount Pleasant Town Administrator Eric DeMoura said.
In the past, Mount Pleasant tried to offset higher fuel prices with police cars that got better mileage, but found that the newer vehicles didn’t hold up as well as the Crown Vic.
The rush to acquire the last models came after Ford announced last year it was doing away with the Crown Vic in favor of its faster, more advanced and seemingly space-aged Ford Police Interceptor.
But concerns soon arose from police departments nationwide, as many agencies had no idea what the field capabilities of the new car would be or what their budgets could handle. Many departments opted to fall back on pursuing the car they knew for the 2011 budget year - the Crown Vic.
From a taxpayer point of view, extending the life of a Crown Vic fleet makes sense, local officials say. Equipment and replacement parts that agencies had accumulated can easily transfer from older Crown Vic models to the new ones, including backseat prisoner cages, roof lights and even an agency’s door decals and logos.
Maintenance shops also liked that Crown Vic is rear-wheel drive, which allows the front part of the vehicle to escape many of the wear-and-tear repairs front-wheel-drive cars need after a street life of dodging potholes, quick stops and high-speed turns.
“This jumps curbs well,” North Charleston patrol officer Anthony Daniele said. Medians are equally easy to clear from behind the wheel of a Crown Vic, he said.
“This is our office,” North Charleston patrolman R.F. Bailey added of the Crown Vic. “This is what we do for a living.”
It also was the car he and many others in law enforcement learned to drive at the start of their careers at the state police academy.
Still, many see an end of an era on the horizon once the last order is filled, probably later this fall.
“It’s kind of sad,” said Sterling Anderson, general manager of the fleet department at Vic Bailey Ford in Spartanburg, a state vehicle contractor in acquiring Crown Vics. The dealership was able to acquire several hundred before orders halted.
“It’s like seeing an old friend go away,” he said. “A lot of police officers are sick over it.”
Copyright 2011 The Post and Courier