Dallas Police Shift To Black-and-White Patrol Cars

During a ceremony in front of police headquarters, the department unveiled its first equipped black-and-white Dodge Charger, the Dallas Observer reports.

Dallas police will increasingly be driving black-and-white patrol cars, as the department phases out its blue-colored vehicles, it has announced.

During a ceremony in front of police headquarters, the department unveiled its first equipped black-and-white Dodge Charger, the Dallas Observer reports.

With two of the new black-and-white models already in its fleet, Dallas PD will begin phasing in the rest of the new models next year.

Lt. Dale Barnard, DPD fleet manager, said 266 of the new cars will hit the streets in late February. The vehicle has intense LED lights, silk-screened graphics, and "Serving Since 1881" motto plastered on the sides.

The design of the new vehicle was voted on by the department several years ago, Barnard told the Observer. "Eighty percent voted for the black-and-white. And we tested blue and black [logos] both with officers, the city manager, all the chiefs, and various other people around the department, and overwhelmingly everyone liked the blue the best because it was a way of blending old and new."

Dallas hasn't had black-and-white police vehicles since the late 1950s, said Barnard. "Then we went to solid black and stayed that way for nine, 10 years. Then, in the mid-'60s, they went to solid white till the blue cars came in in 1992. Before that, they were solid white with the "D" logo on the door."

The department's fleet is currently comprised of several different makes and models, including Chevrolet Impala and Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptors, and will be shifting over to Dodge Chargers for patrol.

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