Annapolis police officers may soon be a little harder to recognize on the road.
The department is rolling out five new vehicles on Friday in a different model and design than its older cars. Over time, 41 new 2019 Ford police vehicles, 26 by the end of the year, will be added, bringing the force up to 75 vehicles.
The new design will be black with silver letters and stripes instead of the department’s traditional blue and gold.
Most of the new cars will have light bars inside the dash instead of on top of the vehicle as well as AT&T First Net to get faster network service than regular traffic. Some cars will also have night vision attachments, which department spokeswoman Amy Miguez said will make finding people in the dark much faster than before.
The new vehicles come as part of the department’s union agreement with Annapolis. The city offered pay raises, but Miguez said officers would rather get new cars to take home — something they ask for every year.
“The officers are really excited,” Miguez said. “We did a lottery to see who would get the new cars first.”
Taking cars home is also something the public asks for, Miguez said, since having police vehicles in their neighborhood makes people feel safer.
Officers who live outside the county will pay $50 a month to the city to be able to take the cars home.
Taking cars home also keeps officers from having to lug police equipment and weapons back and forth from their personal vehicles and prevents scheduling issues for patrol officers who have to share cars.
The department will still use its older Ford Crown Victoria cars and Taurus sedans.
The upgrade was much needed, Miguez said, since Ford doesn’t make Crown Victorias anymore and the Tauruses weren’t as durable as the department needed.
The Crown Victorias police use now are 2010 models or older and some have 150,000-160,000 miles on them, Miguez said.
“They’ve been the workhorses,” she said.
The city last upgraded the department’s cars in 2010 and 2013, Miguez said.
“There’s a lot that goes into these,” Miguez said.
Miguez understands that having different car designs might be confusing for the public. If you’re ever unsure about a car that’s trying to pull you over, Miguez recommends calling 911, putting your flashers on and pulling over to a safe, well-seen location.
There haven’t been any recent cases of police impersonators pulling people over, Miguez said.
