CHP and MOPAR ride again?

[uoplax13]

Originally Posted by SB 405

And have you taken a good look at the typical person driving a retired police vehicle?

No kidding...I got stuck behind two wierdos on 80 in an old black and white this weekend. You could still see the "police" outline on the rear of the car, and it had spotlights, bumpers, etc.... messed up traffic for a good couple miles....they were a couple of real cool looking dudes though.

[billyredline]

I was reading an older Car and Driver magazine and saw that Dodge is coming out with the Dodge Charger for law enforcement offices. It looks awesome; it would look even better with the CHP decals on the sides. Do any of you contributing officers that comment on this forum know if the CHP is going to get them anytime soon? They look pretty nice; it makes me think back of that poster of that CHP Lamborghini pulling over that deuce roadster and that beautiful blond girl in that CHP uniform writing the guy a ticket, I remember as a little kid living outside of California seeing that poster and wanting to join the CHP.

Click here to see Video

Click here to see Video

[Sportbiker]

ok so i am not a contributing officer on this forum...BUT my buddy is a CHP officer. He owns a charger and stated that chp was to sign a contract with dodge for the relese of these vehicles in 06 but the suspension couldnt handle the load so dodge was to reformat the car and re release it to chp with a new contract in 07....

could anyone confirm??

[SB 405]

The Dodge vs. Ford contract has been talked about more than a few times here.

[Sportbiker]

Originally Posted by SB 405

The Dodge vs. Ford contract has been talked about more than a few times here.

well he's right. With a few seconds of searching I got one

http://www.chpforums.com/Default.aspx?g=posts&t=503

[MW]

The City of Sam Ramon already has two. One for the Chief and one for a Detective Sgt. Uhhhh........... how about for the road dogs?

[dw]

Originally Posted by Sportbiker

ok so i am not a contributing officer on this forum...BUT my buddy is a CHP officer. He owns a charger and stated that chp was to sign a contract with dodge for the relese of these vehicles in 06 but the suspension couldnt handle the load so dodge was to reformat the car and re release it to chp with a new contract in 07....

could anyone confirm??

Not true.

Do I have any "inside" information? No. But we use a bid process and there is no way to speculate as to who will win the bid before said vehicle has even been produced. There may be those who would like Dodge to win the contract, but only Miss Cleo can say who will actually win.

There seems to be a lot of talk among non-officers here along the lines of "I wish the CHP used xxx vehicle, it has the best performance and handling." You guys have to remember that there are far more factors to consider than performance and handling when spending eight hours in a vehicle as we do. If those were the only consideration, we all would have driven Camaros for the last few years. Hell, I'd love an M5 patrol vehicle, but cost is another consideration. As is comfort. We occasionally need room to take one or more fine citizens to the hooskow... And a few hundred pounds of gear in the trunk usually puts a dent in the performance and handling of any vehicle.

There's a little more to it...

[Tom]

I heard we were all getting Ferrari's!

[CHPGuy]

The Charger was DQed because, among other things, the poor visability through the rear window. That little tid-bit of information is straight from the Academy.

[Your Mentor]

The Charger's transmission, further failed to meet standards. I second dw's statement regarding the statements of some non-chp members. Just because a vehicle looks cool and has impressive 'perfomance' and 'handling' on paper, which is where most of your information is coming from, those paper numbers NEVER translate into a usable patrol vehicle. There are simply too many factors to name. Understand, however, that a stock Charger will never push a fully loaded school bus out of a traffic lane, carry a trunk load of gear, flares, full spare, the officers own gear (which sometmes weighs more than the vehicle's gear), have a heavy metal cage installed, have its aerodynamics disturbed by a light bar, or have to accommodate an officer wearing safety equipment (which makes a huge difference in interior ergonomics). We do not patrol flat roads with superelevated curves. The newest vehicles don't really have any of this taken into account. The Ford CVPI has been around so long and refined specifically toward police work. It's going to be a very tough contract to steal. And, we've been in a CONTRACT with Ford until the end of fiscal year 2007. So any talk of a contract with another manufacturer before that time is just pure bunk. Finally, testing vehicles is so common on the CHP, every year, but have rarely resulted in going to a new car. For example: since I've been on we've tested the LT1 Camaro, Toyota Camry, and Volvo. Just to name a few. None of which were picked up. The current Camaro, with the exception of the Academy EVOC staff, has been relegated for commercial enforcement only. I'm glad. It's not a practical patrol vehicle. Unless you are petite, it's hard to sit in it with a full duty gear without feeling like you're in a coffin.

Beat officers do a very specific job. We don't drive around all day trying to look cool. That's NOT what this job is about folks. So if you are interested in this profession for that reason, please don't pursue this career. We are looking for pragmatic individuals who are looking to help others, and work hard to keep people alive on the highway.

[snowdog]

I was at Officers Forum a few weeks ago and this was addressed when Commissioner Joe came in. He said they were very impressed with the performance, the visibility issue was no different from the Crown Vics, but the primary problem was Dodge's refusal to provide a 75 mph crash test. They provided the 35 mph test and it held up ok but the Department will not purchase a car that does not meet all of the standards. Made a whole lot of sense to me, Safety First!

[Your Mentor]

Thanks snowdog for adding some current information. Safety always makes sense. Particularly when you view photos of a mangled patrol cars. Did the commish have any words regarding where we're going after the 07' contract expires?

[RAT Power]

Having recently crashed a Crown Vic at about 120 MPH into a sound wall, I would say it's still a good car. I owe my life to that car. That and God was definately pointing to my side of the field that day. I basically walked away from the crash. Not everyone has been so fortunate, but in my instance, the passenger compartment stayed intact. I would like to see how any other vehicle being considered could hold up before they take me out of the Crown Vic.

[billyredline]

After I wrote this topic I expected the usual members to comment and having this sites nestor your mentor set the record straight, but I do remember back a while ago getting the technical service bulletins from Ford at the auto shop that I work at about the old crown vics for cabbies and police catching on fire. I also recall those cars having pretty bad rear impact troubles. I recall too a couple years back getting newer CHP crown vics at the auto shop that I work having bad stress fractures in the rear ends because the frames could not handle all the weight and stress of daily CHP work so we had to reinforce the frames for you guys.
I am not a Dodge salesman; I just saw what the Charger had under the hood and its features like the only police car with a stability control system (I know you guys can drive), and a "good safety restraint system". I was just wondering if it passed the test for the CHP. I have test driven CHP crown vics after working on them and I have been in a couple more for ride alongs and on rides with CHP officers who are my friends; and with newer cars now a days and all the ways to improve the performance and traction of a persons vehicles, maybe it is time to get a vehicle that is more up to date performance wise (no insult to the crown vic). Also I think about the backs of the crown vics now and I have heard quite a number of complaints from CHP about its lack of room for people, not criminals but people, one CHP friend of mine always seems get the ?large? ones that need to sit in the back and he just tells me how uncomfortable it is for them. I know also safety is first; it is first for the majority of people when it comes to cars, and I have read some information about its safety rating and that other police offices are picking them up. I was just interested to know if I would see on speeding through the freeways anytime soon.

Oh and your mentor I thought that the CHP had a couple of the Volvo CHP cars?

[WannaBeaChippie]

Originally Posted by Your Mentor

The Charger's transmission, further failed to meet standards. I second dw's statement regarding the statements of some non-chp members. Just because a vehicle looks cool and has impressive 'perfomance' and 'handling' on paper, which is where most of your information is coming from, those paper numbers NEVER translate into a usable patrol vehicle. There are simply too many factors to name. Understand, however, that a stock Charger will never push a fully loaded school bus out of a traffic lane, carry a trunk load of gear, flares, full spare, the officers own gear (which sometmes weighs more than the vehicle's gear), have a heavy metal cage installed, have its aerodynamics disturbed by a light bar, or have to accommodate an officer wearing safety equipment (which makes a huge difference in interior ergonomics). We do not patrol flat roads with superelevated curves. The newest vehicles don't really have any of this taken into account. The Ford CVPI has been around so long and refined specifically toward police work. It's going to be a very tough contract to steal. And, we've been in a CONTRACT with Ford until the end of fiscal year 2007. So any talk of a contract with another manufacturer before that time is just pure bunk. Finally, testing vehicles is so common on the CHP, every year, but have rarely resulted in going to a new car. For example: since I've been on we've tested the LT1 Camaro, Toyota Camry, and Volvo. Just to name a few. None of which were picked up. The current Camaro, with the exception of the Academy EVOC staff, has been relegated for commercial enforcement only. I'm glad. It's not a practical patrol vehicle. Unless you are petite, it's hard to sit in it with a full duty gear without feeling like you're in a coffin.

Beat officers do a very specific job. We don't drive around all day trying to look cool. That's NOT what this job is about folks. So if you are interested in this profession for that reason, please don't pursue this career. We are looking for pragmatic individuals who are looking to help others, and work hard to keep people alive on the highway.

They can push a fully loaded bus? That's amazing...regarding all the vehicles specific's do you learn about the vehicles during EVOC at the academy?


It sounds like vehicle dynamics play a huge factor in the way the vehicle moves...I was just wondering if a small level of general physics actually comes into play at the academy?

Regarding the camaro, I've seen the inside of it, the Fairfield office has one, it's tiny nobody can ride shotgun in it unless you put the CLET system away. If you are over 5'10" riding in it is impossible for long periods....
I also have a question about the suburbans, and SUV's I've seen a couple in San Francisco, are those mainly used for special protection for Politicians?