Houma Police officer Eric Ricker (left) and
Terrebonne sheriff’s Lt. Brealon Yelverton
pose with two new Dodge Chargers purchased
by their respective departments. (EMILY
SCHWARZE/STAFF)
HOUMA – More than a decade before the Ford Crown Victoria
and the Chevrolet Impala established dominance over the
market for police cruisers, an offhand line from a hit movie
lauded the virtues of a certain Dodge squad car.
“It’s got a cop motor – a 440 cubic-inch plant – it’s got
cop tires, cop suspension, cop shocks. It’s a model made
before catalytic converters, so it’ll run good on regular
gas,” actor Dan Aykroyd, as Elwood Blues, waxes in the 1980
film “The Blues Brothers.”
The Dodge car most commonly remembered by local lawmen is
the utilitarian Diplomat, discontinued as a police model in
1989. Since then, the Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor
has become the staple of law-enforcement fleets across the
country, reigning supreme over a 70,000-cop-car-a-year
market.
With the Hemi-powered Charger police model, however, Dodge’s
first full-fledged return to the police-car market since the
days of the Diplomat has opened up competition and given
police departments across the country a choice beyond the
relatively unpopular, front-wheel-drive Impala or the
venerable “Crown Vic.”
As Aykroyd’s character notes, the 1974 Dodge Monaco that
stole the show in the movie was a police model, outfitted
with heavy-duty performance parts for the demands of the
job.
There was a time, however, when any large, powerful sedan,
with the quick addition of lights, siren and radio, could be
pressed into service as a “cop car.”
When Sheriff Jerry Larpenter first hit the road as a young
deputy more than 30 years ago, the Terrebonne Sheriff’s
Office bought cars off dealer lots or used from the
State Police, made a few quick modifications at the motor
pool and put the newly minted patrol car on the road 24
hours a day.
“You didn’t have any police packages,” he said. “There was
every make you could think of back then.”
Cars stayed on the road through three shifts a day, until
holes showed in the floorboards, Larpenter said.
Police cars have come a long way since then, from bare-bones
models with a radio, siren and little else to sophisticated
stability-control systems, onboard laptops and other bells
and whistles.
Now local cops and deputies are getting a feel for the
muscular-looking Charger, which is making inroads across the
country with law-enforcement agencies, said Peter Kash, the
Chrysler government sales manager for a seven-state region
that includes Louisiana.
‘NEW KID ON THE BLOCK’
Chrysler does not release sales figures, and the number of
police departments across the country using Chargers was not
available.
However, Kash did say swelling sales volume nationwide
indicated a widespread interest in the new Charger, first
offered as a police model in 2006.
“We doubled our sales from a year ago,” Kash said.
The Terrebonne Sheriff’s Office has purchased 18 Chargers,
adding them to a fleet that includes more than 100 vehicles,
according to sheriff’s Maj. Tommy Odom.
Though they haven’t been on the road long enough to give
indications of reliability and durability, Odom said the
cars are performing adequately.
“After they’ve been here awhile, then we can say more,” Odom
said. “As far as right now, they’re good.”
The Houma Police have two in use as squad cars, in addition
to an unmarked police Charger reserved for Chief Pat
Boudreaux.
“They’re nice. I think they make a good police car,” said
Houma Police Capt. Greg Hood, who is in charge of the
department’s fleet of squad cars.
The cars are purchased through local dealerships using a
state bidding procedure that allows government agencies
across Louisiana to lock in the same price for the Chargers.
Under the bid, the cars usually sell for between $20,000 and
$21,000 depending on options, Kash said.
More police officers around the country will be patrolling
in Chargers by next year, according to Shawn Morgan, a media
relations manager for Chrysler.
“There’s still many more that we haven’t tapped into yet,”
she said. “We’re kind of the new kid on the block.”
Not everyone is sold on the Charger, however.
The Louisiana State Police, which currently patrols state
highways using a mix of Crown Victorias and Impalas, passed
at a chance to purchase Chargers for road use.
Sgt. Markus Smith, a State Police spokesman, said the
Impalas are being phased out, to be replaced with Crown
Victorias.
“We tested the Chargers; we purchased a few for detectives,”
Smith said, adding that with the long hours and hundreds of
miles troopers cover on patrol, the spacious Crown Victoria
is a better fit.
“We just find that the Ford is better suited for our needs,”
Smith said, calling the Crown Victoria a “more user-friendly
and more workable car.”
‘IT WAS HORRIBLE’
In Larpenter’s early days on the beat, cruisers were driven
by several deputies a day, unlike the take-home car policy
now in place. Some deputies left the cars in better shape
than others.
“You had deputies putting chicken bones under the seat,” he
added, recalling cigarette burns in the upholstery. “It was
horrible.”
One particular deputy who shared a squad car with Larpenter
ruined the front bench seat.
“The springs were gone because this man weighed over 400
pounds,” he said.
Deputies assigned to the Patrol Division and supervisors are
now given their own take-home patrol car.
Like many police agencies across the country, the Terrebonne
fleet was almost entirely composed of Ford Crown Victorias
by the time Dodge began offering the Charger police model.
“The key is that prior to Dodge coming out there was no one
else making a police package,” Larpenter said. “Everybody’s
been off the market for years, and Ford stayed there. They
have been missing for 20 years or more.”
Larpenter didn’t say whether he favors the Charger over the
Crown Victoria, adding that his deputies are generally happy
with whichever car they’re assigned.
“We find both cars are really adequate for police work,” he
said. “They’re both roomy.”
Sheriff’s Lt. Brealon Yelverton said he had been driving one
of the Chargers for about a year when he was offered a brand
new Crown Victoria. Yelverton said he was told to take the
Ford for a night and then decide.
“I came back and told them ‘No thanks,’ ” he said.
The Charger – his is a V-6 model – has more power and
maneuverability, Yelverton said.
“You don’t have the police-car feeling, you have a
sports-car feeling,” he said of the Charger, which sports an
independent rear suspension and a traction-control system.
“It handles a whole lot better.”
THE CHARGER
What sets the Charger apart, according to Kash, is the car’s
platform.
The car, with a curb weight of nearly two tons, is built on
a chassis copied from the Charger’s German cousins in the
Chrysler (formerly Daimler-Chrysler) family.
“It’s a Mercedes design,” Kash said. “This car is kind of
mimicked off the E-class.”
A sturdy and balanced design, as well as safety features
like the electronic-stability system, are the main reasons
for the car’s growing popularity.
“The main thing is safety; they’re very safety conscious,”
Kash said, noting that a sister car, the Dodge Magnum
station wagon, is also offered as a police model, though
usually employed for specialty duty like crime-scene or
command units.
The Charger’s 19-gallon gas tank sits squarely in the middle
of the car, balancing the weight evenly and reducing the
chance of the tank rupturing in a crash and catching fire.
The 50 percent weight distribution helps the car corner
better as well, and with a 340-horsepower Hemi V-8 engine
available, the car offers more accelerating power than any
other American police model on the market. Real-wheel drive
is also an advantage, Kash said, since front-wheel drive
cars like the Impala sit lower to the ground. The
front-wheel drive Dodge Intrepid was offered for two years
as a police model before it was pulled off the market in
2004.
“It just wasn’t exactly what we looking for,” Kash said. “On
a real-wheel drive car you can push the car a little more.”
Travis Yates, a captain with the Tulsa, Okla., Police
Department, and a nationally recognized driving instructor,
said safety was also a key factor in his department’s
decision to begin purchasing the Charger.
“It has some of the best brakes on the market,” said Yates,
founder of policedriving.com, a Web site that deals with
law-enforcement driving issues. “Traction control is second
to none. You really can’t get the car out of control.”
PERSONAL PREFERENCE
However, even supporters noted that the car is not without
its flaws.
The Charger’s aggressive styling and low-cut roof leave
blind spots that make some drivers uncomfortable.
“It’s got a few blind spots that take getting used to,”
Yelverton said.
Trunk space in the Dodge is also considerably smaller than
the cavernous boot of the Crown Victoria, he noted.
A SWAT team member, the trunk of Yelverton’s Dodge is packed
with gear and weapons.
“You don’t have much room for anything else,” he said.
Officers also debate whether the Charger is actually smaller
than the Crown Victoria on the inside.
“The difference is less room in the back seat,” said Hood,
the Houma Police captain.
Though Yelverton maintained that the Charger had the same
interior space as a Crown Victoria, Smith, the State Police
sergeant, said the Ford is larger.
With cops, Yates said, adding the Charger to the patrol
fleet may come down to individual taste.
“I hesitate to say it’s a better choice for everybody,”
Yates said. “It’s about personal preference.”
Still, having another viable police model on the market
makes for better cars for departments to choose from, he
added.
“The Charger has definitely pushed the envelope when it
comes to law-enforcement cars,” Yates said. “Competition is
good, it’ll probably make all police package cars rise up a
level.”
Staff Writer Robert Zullo can be reached at 850-1150 or
robert.zullo@houmatoday.com.
