Black and White Police Cruisers Make a Comeback

[JakeLock]

Source

Aug. 20--Dave Robbins knew one big change he wanted to make when he became the police chief in Hudson a few years ago -- Bring back the black and white police cruiser.

At the time, the city fleet was composed of silver cars. Robbins called them downright ugly, and some folks in town referred to them as the "Gray Ghosts."

"The black and whites look cleaner and crisper and are a little more professional," said Robbins, who admits his respect for the traditional black and white stems from watching the television show Adam-12. "I think we're taken a little more seriously."

The iconic two-toned cruiser, which disappeared in many communities years ago in favor of solid whites, blues and silvers, is making a strong comeback throughout North America. Police departments from the small village of Lakemore, which has three vehicles, to the giant Ontario Provincial Police, which has a fleet of 1,200, are opting to return to the black and white cars, concluding that they are more identifiable as law-enforcement vehicles and convey a sense of authority.

Ford Motor Co., the maker of the popular Crown Victoria, saw a 7 percent increase in orders for black and white cars from the 2006 to 2007 models. Black and whites now make up 22 percent of police vehicles ordered from Ford.

"I don't care what they say, there's nothing more stark in contrast than black and white," said Ed Nowicki, executive director of the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association in Twin Lakes, Wis. "You see that black and white car, you know it's the police."

Springfield Township Police Chief John Smith has already pledged to replace the town ship's white cruisers with black and whites. Tallmadge and Wooster also are converting their fleets, joining a long list of communities nationwide that includes Miami; Hartford, Conn.; Providence, R.I.; Toms River, N.J.; Fort Worth, Texas; Elmira, N.Y.; La Vista, Neb.; Mesa, Ariz.; and Little Rock, Ark.

Black and white cruisers first hit the streets in the 1950s, said Dennis Wise, a retired police officer, current president of the American Federation of Police and Concerned Citizens in Titusville, Fla., and author of Honor Above All Else -- Removing the Veil of Secrecy, which chronicles his 35 years in law enforcement.

Chicago police had all black vehicles and started painting white lettering on them.

"This kind of made the car stand out," Wise said. "You knew it was an emergency-type vehicle. You knew the person driving it was an authority."

The black and whites were then made famous in such television shows as Adam-12, Car 54 Where Are You? and Dragnet.

But they fell out of favor for solid colors, in part because it costs more for the black and white paint job, which can add anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars to the cost of the vehicle. Black and white cars also have lower resale value.

With the rise of community policing in the 1990s, many departments also thought the black and whites were too sinister looking and unapproachable, said Robert Genat, author of Police Cars in Action.

Departments have experimented through the years with colors, striping and decals. Chicago once had powder blue and white, San Diego had green and white, and Cleveland went with lime.

But many law enforcement officials say there's nothing like black and white.

Copley Township used to have white cruisers, then went to black and now is using black and whites.

"It's distinctive. It's traditional," Copley police Lt. Luke Marchmon said. "One of the ideas of law enforcement is to be readily seen both by the good folks and the bad folks."

Just being recognized as a police vehicle can help deter crime, Lakemore Police Chief Kenneth Ray said.

He ended up buying his first black and white cruiser because it was the only vehicle available and the department needed a car quickly. Now partly because of the positive reaction from his officers and the public he can't imagine going back to a solid white.

"It's kind of like a firetruck," Ray said. "People expect a firetruck to be red and police cars to be black and white."

Robbins, who has worked in Hudson for more than 25 years, remembers hearing complaints from residents that they never saw the police around town. He took that personally, knowing full well he had been cruising the streets on patrol.

He chalked that up to the cruiser. He never hears that complaint today.

Next year, the entire Hudson fleet will be black and white as the last of the silver cars are retired.

"It's a tradition we needed to go back to," Robbins said.

This is awesome, I once asked the Capt. here why we had solid white cars, he said the black and whites were $500 more :rolleyes:.

But the PD sells the cars to other city departments so I guess I can understand that...

I just love the look of a black and white, you can't look at it and not know it's not a cop.

[JDS]

I love them, I heard there was some national push every dept to switch to them, I don't know who made that push though. I can say that in the past year, tons of CT depts have switched,

Stamford, Darien,, Norwalk, Stratford, Hartford, Bridgeport to say a few.

I am lucky I am not driving a minivan around in my dept so I don't see a switch coming anytime soon, but you never know.

[bluelightzgrl]

I heard there was some national push every dept to switch to them

I know a few depts back home (MI) made the switch and where I use to live in Arkansas they were switching over too. The Little Rock cars sure looked a heck of a lot better as black & whites than that cheese blue and green stripe they had for a while.

I had that same conversation with someone, can't remember who though. But it was something along the lines of depts will receive extra funding if they go with the "preferred" vehicle. For a while it was the solid white cruisers, now it’s black & whites.

Personally, I like the black & whites better. :cool:

[JDS]

I know a few depts back home (MI) made the switch and where I use to live in Arkansas they were switching over too. The Little Rock cars sure looked a heck of a lot better as black & whites than that cheese blue and green stripe they had for a while.

I had that same conversation with someone, can't remember who though. But it was something along the lines of depts will receive extra funding if they go with the "preferred" vehicle. For a while it was the solid white cruisers, now it’s black & whites.

Personally, I like the black & whites better. :cool:

IT WAS ME!

[Cat_Doc]

IT WAS ME!

Totally off topic, but...has she called you Muffin, yet? :p

[JDS]

Totally off topic, but...has she called you Muffin, yet? :p

among other things, yes. She has a mouth only a sailor could love:eek:

[bluelightzgrl]

IT WAS ME!

It was you?!? Well, you know the shenaggins I've been going through. Heck, remind me again what we had for dinner last night? ;)

Totally off topic, but...has she called you Muffin, yet? :p

I'm entitled to call my partner muffin. :p

among other things, yes. She has a mouth only a sailor could love:eek:

It's my own version of turrets. Especially with that typewriter!! :eek: :rolleyes:

[WellAdvised]

you can't look at it and not know it's not a cop.

LOL excellent use of negatives in a positive way :D

[JakeLock]

LOL excellent use of negatives in a positive way :D

Yeah I know, I just couldn't think of any other way to put it... :p But I know now I'll get like 10 reccommendations... :D

Oh and Jess, what's a shenaggins?:confused::confused:

[bluelightzgrl]

Oh and Jesse, what's a shenaggins?:confused::confused:

Hey, I'm a product of the Michigan school system. I know I can't spell worth a... :p Heck, I even asked JDS, muffin over here tells me I'm on my own with that one. :rolleyes:

[Cat_Doc]

Heck, I even asked JDS, muffin over here tells me I'm on my own with that one.

LOL.

Touché, your counterstrike did not go unnoticed.

[normal1]

I love B&Ws, I love the look of the CHP cars, tradition all the way and that's one of the things I look for in a department.

[MDEMT280]

Red car, anyone? :D

My favorite scheme ever :rolleyes: was the baby blue Ford Tauruses (Tauri?) that Baltimore used for a while. GAG!

[Valor55]

Several years ago I volunteered to help redesign our cruisers. We put together a package with B&W's. It was approved by the Puzzle Palace and last year we began rolling them out. They look awesome!

[Darin]

Here's the one I'm driving. Today was the first time I got to drive it.