Oak Park to see new cop cars

By summer, deputies will be driving Chevy SUVs



RIDE ON—The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office has chosen the Chevrolet Tahoe as its new patrol car. The new SUVs will gradually replace aging Crown Victorias in the sheriff’s motor pool.

RIDE ON—The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office has chosen the Chevrolet Tahoe as its new patrol car. The new SUVs will gradually replace aging Crown Victorias in the sheriff’s motor pool.

Move over, Crown Vic. There’s a new cop car coming to town.

The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office announced in December that deputies will be driving the Chevrolet Tahoe, a full-sized SUV. It will replace the Ford-made sedan and longtime car of choice for police.

The sheriff’s coverage area includes Oak Park.

The eight-seat trucks—which will be outfitted with radios, cage partitions, light bars and other police equipment—are specially designed to withstand the day-today demands of a patrol vehicle.

“This is not your soccer mom’s Chevy Tahoe,” said Sgt. Eric Buschow, a sheriff’s spokesperson. “It’s a special police model built for emergency operations and pursuit driving.”

The search for a new patrol car began in 2011 when Ford stopped making the Crown Victoria, which the VCSO used for nearly 20 years.

“The (Crown Victoria) was a great car,” Buschow said. “We had to identify a vehicle that would carry us into the future.”

Ventura County’s General Services Agency’s fleet services department, an entity that buys and maintains county vehicles, purchased about 60 Ford Crown Victoria sedans in 2011 to ensure the VCSO had a steady supply for the next few years.

Meanwhile, a variety of potential replacement cars, including the Chevrolet Caprice, the Ford Crossover and the Tahoe, were tested. About 77 percent of the VCSO’s patrol officers surveyed said they preferred the Chevrolet Tahoe over the other cars under consideration.

Buschow said the Tahoe is comparable in mileage to the Crown Victoria, which gets an average of 10.3 miles per gallon. The Tahoe’s average is 10.4 miles per gallon.

Buschow said Crown Victorias generally lasted about three years and racked up about 100,000 miles. Retired police cars are auctioned off by the county each year. As the Crown Victorias age, they will be replaced with the SUVs.

Buschow said the Tahoe is ideal for police operations.

The cars are more visible than the average sedan, he said. “The emergency lights are a little higher so they’re easier to spot.”

The cars are also easier to get in and out of, Buschow said. “The SUV will reduce some of that wear and tear on the body.”

Senior Dep. Bob Berger, the public information officer for the Moorpark Police Department, said the Tahoe’s larger size will accommodate more equipment.

“They’re much roomier,” he said. “The more advancements that come along, the more stuff we carry.”

The Tahoes purchased for testing are currently being used by field supervisors throughout the county.

Buschow said he expects the sheriff’s office to have a full 135- car fleet of Tahoes by late summer.

“Drivers will begin to see them on the road,” he said.


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