Cloverdale police add SUVs to fleet

Cloverdale has been gradually updating its fleet of police patrol cars, replacing the oldest Ford Crown Victorias with Chevy Tahoes, but now that the department has eight, City Manager Paul Cayler is beginning to field a number of inquiries from citizens who perceive it as an extravagance and want to know what’s up.

His answer? Ford has discontinued production of the Crown Vic, as it is known, and he’s sorry to see them go. They were dependable, built to last and had lots of room, he said, but all good things eventually wear out.

Like a number of other cities, Cloverdale was forced to make a change. CHP has been rolling out a fleet of new Ford Police Interceptor vehicles statewide, for example, recently sending two to Sonoma County.

Cloverdale found Police Interceptors and Dodge Chargers too compact for its tastes, said Police Chief Mark Tuma. Chevy Tahoes are large enough to hold officers, computers, safety cages, radios and equipment while also providing good driver visibility and crash safety.

These heavy-duty police-packaged two-wheel-drive vehicles on durable truck frames cost about $60,000 in today’s market when fully equipped, rated by Vincentric, an automotive data compilation and analysis firm, as the least expensive police vehicle a department can own due to its strong residual value.

K9 units are a little more because they have alarms that page the officer if the air conditioning fails or the engine quits, plus they have extra cages to separate the dogs from the passengers.

Of Cloverdale’s 18 patrol cars, the oldest is a 1995 Chevy Caprice, with nine Crown Vics (1999-2003) and eight Tahoes purchased between 1997 and 2013 with developer impact fees, state grants and asset forfeiture (drug) money before that money was converted to salaries.

Updating the aging fleet is among the reasons city officials are asking residents for a temporary 3 percent utility user’s tax, Measure O, on this fall’s ballot. If it passes, Tuma said, his goal is to replace one vehicle each year - most likely with a Tahoe.

Contact Cloverdale correspondent Mary Jo Winter at cloverdale.towns@gmail.com.