Think other Departments will follow? We lose to a Durango of all possibilities. Kalamazoo is in our backyard, another part of the Ford legacy to go under.
Ford has long had a stranglehold on the police vehicle market, and that didn’t change even as it transitioned away from the Crown Victoria and into a new era with the Ford Explorer-based Ford Police Interceptor Utility. In fact, that crossover continues to be the best-selling police vehicle in the U.S., but it has also faced its fair share of problems as of late. Aside from dealing with lawsuits pertaining to exhaust leaks and recalls, the Ford Police Interceptor Utility has also been plagued with supply chain issues that prompted more than one police department to cancel their orders. Now, another law enforcement agency is set to join that list – the Kalamazoo Police Department in Michigan, according to MLive.
Previously, the Kalamazoo Police Department had a rather large fleet of Ford Police Interceptor Utility models in its fleet, but that began to change last year, when the department purchased 10 Dodge Durangos to serve as front-line patrol vehicles, replacing the Blue Oval crossovers in that regard. This decision was made as the Durangos were $1,700 cheaper to purchase and experience fewer mechanical issues, according to KDPS Police Chief David Boysen.
Now, the department is getting even more Durangos – 12 in total, which will be purchased from LaFontaine Dodge in Lansing – as it continues to phase out the Police Interceptor Utility. Currently, KDPS has 41 vehicles in its fleet, but those must be replaced every three years due to excessive wear and tear incurred from operating them 24 hours a day.
According to KDPS, the department performed quite a bit of research before making this decision, along with data collected by the Michigan State Police, and made the determination that the Durango will be a more reliable and less expensive vehicle to operate. As for the remaining Fords in its fleet, those models are expected to be phased out in the coming months, too.