Sleek New Police Vehicles

Police Interceptor

I wrote an article yesterday about Columbia law enforcement updating their vehicles to the next big thing.

MUPD is exchanging the good ol’ Crown Victorias that everyone associates with as the transportation of city protectors to the new sleek 2013 Ford Police Interceptors. The Interceptors hit the market in January of this year and have made some Columbia police forces to update.

MUPD has 2 SUVs and 2 sedans of the Interceptor. The SUV is similar to the Ford Explorer and the sedan similar to the Taurus, Kelly Sells, fleet manager at Joe Machens Ford Lincoln in Columbia, said.

The SUV comes with a 3.7 liter V-6 engine and the 3.5 liter V-6 sedan.

The Police Interceptor has two types of sedans, the V-6 and the V-6 ecoboost twin turbo. Sells said the twin turbo charger lets air get into an engine, spins the air and forces it into the engine.

The Police Interceptor has 20 percent better fuel economy than the Crown Victoria and a five-year, 100,000-mile power train warranty.

The SUV obtains about the same gas mileage as the sedan, Sells said.

The twin turbo sedan’s top speed is 148 mph, Sells said.

The SUV and the V-6 sedan without twin turbo have the same top speed as the Crown Victoria at 131 mph, Sells said.

Columbia Police decided to stick with rear wheel drive Chevy Tahoes when the Interceptor boosts efficient all wheel drive that can power through rain, sleet, snow and off road terrain.

The Boone County Sheriff Department found out that Ford was going to introduce the Interceptor a few years ago and planned accordingly with testing out Dodge Chargers, Chevy Tahoes and Chevy Caprices in loo of their debute.

KOMU also had a feature about the new vehicles.

Writing about Cars

Writing this story was very interesting because everyone likes to learn about new cars. People will also know that some Columbia law enforcement are updating to these vehicles and to observe that these law enforcements are going to be safer and more efficient because they will have all new vehicles.

I’m not very car-savy but I was able to figure out what all the terminology meant and how it would affect the law enforcement because they would have a faster and more efficient car because of it’s all wheel drive and V-6 engine.

It’s also interesting to note that during this story it was one of the first times I had to talk to an officer as a reporter. I thought it would be difficult because it seemed intimidating for me to do so, but once I gained my confidence and knew what questions to ask it was like any other story.

Not only am I learning about how to talk to different types of people in different positions, but I’m learning how to write on a topic I know nothing about and become an expert on the subject.

I think that is one of the most fundamental parts of journalism: to learn about unfamiliar topics and to tell others about it.