Portland Police Debuts New Vehicle Design

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New Portland Police Patrol Car with City of Portland Behind
For the first time since 2011, the Portland Police Bureau is debuting a new vehicle design for marked patrol units, including a different color scheme.
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PPB primarily uses the Ford Interceptor Utility vehicle, which has been in our fleet since 2013. The biggest change for the 2023 model is the black color. Ford Motor Company is no longer producing the dark blue color that served as the base for our current fleet of vehicles. The Bureau is also discontinuing the white wrap that was featured on the doors of our previous design. It was clear that the wrapping material did not hold up well to the rigors of police work and tended to get scuffed easily. Foregoing the white wrap will also be a cost saving change.

The decal design is consistent with the current design. On the doors are the words "PORTLAND POLICE" and below them is the slogan "Sworn to protect. Dedicated to serve" in all white text. A red rose is featured between the words "Protect" and "Dedicated" to symbolize our service to the Rose City. The slogan, "Sworn to Protect, Dedicated to Serve" was coined by a Portland Police Officer in the mid-1980s and was previously on Portland Police cars in the late-1980s and early 1990s.

On the rear quarter-panel is the official Twitter handle of the Portland Police Bureau, "@portlandpolice". The use of the Twitter handle is designed to encourage people to follow the Police Bureau on Twitter and other social media channels for updates, crime information, and to engage with people in the social media community. The new vehicles will also feature badge decals with the names of Portland Police Officers who were killed in the line a duty, a daily solemn reminder of their sacrifice.

The new design will feature improved equipment, including a stronger type of protective bumper on the front. The previous bumper was frequently damaged and required repair or replacement, which took a vehicle out of service. The bumpers are used for a variety of purposes, most frequently to "box-in" suspect vehicles to prevent escape or for the Pursuit Intervention Technique of spinning an eluding car's rear end to prevent or end a pursuit.

The new vehicles also have enhanced lighting and sirens. The new LED design will adapt to the ambient light, making them brighter and more visible during the day and dimmer and less blinding during the hours of darkness. The lights will also sync to the atomic clock radio signal, which will limit the chaotic strobing that tends to happen when multiple officers’ vehicles are working in a single location. As more vehicles with this feature are added to the fleet, the light bars will flash in unison. The new design also features a new, lower-profile locking cargo box allowing more room for officers to transport their gear and property.

PPB is in possession of 66 new vehicles (43 officer vehicles and 23 vehicles for supervisors) with these changes and they are in various stages of being outfitted and deployed to precincts. The first vehicles will be hitting the streets next week and they will be added in batches of between 5 and 10 vehicles per week for the next 8 weeks. PPB has ordered 78 additional vehicles from Ford and they are currently in production.

The Ford Interceptor Utility is an all-wheel-drive pursuit-rated hybrid vehicle. The fuel-electric hybrid technology will allow for fuel cost savings and lower emissions. On-board electrical equipment (emergency lights, radios, and computers) can be powered using the lithium-ion hybrid battery, allowing the gasoline engine to shut off – running only intermittently to charge the battery.

PPB also has some Chevrolet Tahoe vehicles in its fleet of marked vehicles, but the vast majority will be the Ford Interceptor Utility. We have one Ford Crown Victoria and a few Chevrolet Caprice cars left, although they have been in service for a decade or more and will be decommissioned in the near future.