Sheldon, Iowa — Sometime in the next few days, a different type, and color, of police vehicle will be visible on Sheldon’s streets.
Since Ford stopped manufacturing their Crown Victoria cars that were the ubiquitous police vehicle in the U.S., the Sheldon Police Department has driven black Ford Explorers. The first generation were decked out with white vinyl wraps to convert them into traditional black & white police cars. The latest generation did away with the white wraps and simply added blue graphics to the sides of the SUVs.
The newest Sheldon Police vehicle will not be a Ford Explorer, but a Ford F150 Responder pickup truck. Sheldon Police Chief Scott Burtch says the decision to shift to the F150 Responder was, at least partially, financial.
And, he says, the thinks the F150 won’t cost significantly more to operate than the Explorers.
Burtch says the truck will be a fully marked patrol vehicle, but gone are the black vehicle color and the graphics, while similar to the those on the department’s Explorer, are a little bit different.
The Sheldon Police Department has also purchased a second F150 Responder that is currently being outfitted with equipment and should, Burtch says, be on the streets by the end of next month.
As for the addition of more trucks to the PD’s fleet, Chief Burtch says they’re considering replacing Explorers with more of the pickups, as the SUVs are rotated out of the department’s patrol fleet.
The increased room in the trucks could become a major factor in the decision of what type of patrol vehicle to buy for the Sheldon Police Department going forward, since Burtch say once the patrol vehicles are equipped with radios, cameras, computer equipment and all the equipment needed by a modern police force, along with the barriers between the front and rear seats, the Explorers don’t leave a lot of space for the officer or their prisoner.
The Sheldon Police Department’s initial Ford F150 Responder pickup will be assigned to the department’s patrol supervisors, Sergeants David Dykstra and Todd Wood.
