It’s official.
The police will be getting BMWs and high performance Chrysler 300 SRT8s to replace the Falcons and Commodores that have for so long been the face of the law.
The highway patrol blokes that is. General duties will continue to drive boring old Toyota Camrys, Hyundai iLoads and the like — where speed is not a priority.
The cost? Well the police are talking “whole of life” which takes into account cost of service and the higher trade in they can expect at end of life.
NSW Police has unveiled the BMW 530d and Chrysler SRT Core as replacements for the outgoing Traffic and Highway Patrol Command fleet vehicles.
Assistant Commissioner Michael Corboy says the latest additions are focused on safety and efficiency.
Corboy said Command undertook a global fleet review to identify vehicles best suited for Australian law enforcement purposes.
Following an exhaustive, comprehensive three-year search, that included rigorous assessment of 17 different variants of several vehicles, he said the BMW 530d and Chrysler SRT Core were selected to replace Ford and Holden models from July 2018.
The 6.4-litre HEMI V8 in the Chrysler provides 350kW of power and 637Nm of torque, and catapults the Core from 0-100km/h in less than 5.0 seconds, while the diesel 5 Series is good for 195kW and 620Nm, and is no slouch itself at 5.7 seconds.
“The safety of our police officers and the community they serve is our top priority, and both these vehicles demonstrated the safety levels meeting our requirements,” Assistant Commissioner Corboy said.
Victoria Police announced last year that it would be taking up to 80 BMW 530d sedans on the highway patrol fleet by the end of 2018.
“Equally as important, the platform of both vehicles supports the state of the art technology that is key to the government’s focus on reducing the incidents of road trauma across NSW,” he said.
Corboy said the BMW and Dodge Chrysler brands provide NSW Police Force with a solid foundation to build on through years of experience in building law enforcement vehicles.
“Both vehicles are designed specifically for policing duties and similar models have performed as law enforcement vehicles across North America and Europe for years, and have an established presence in Australia, meaning support and further development will be accessible to the NSW Police.”
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