Zelienople police cruise by in new vehicles
The Zelienople Borough Police Department has three new 2025 SUVs and a pickup truck in service after waiting nearly a year for them to arrive.
The SUVs are 2025 Ford Interceptors, the police model of the Ford Explorer. Chief Jim Miller said the Interceptors’ interiors are equipped with the police engine, dash and interior cameras, new laptops and an AED. The SUVs notably do not have carpet to reduce dirt and wear from officers getting in and out.
The pickup truck is a Ford F-150 Police Responder and the first truck the department has owned. The four vehicles began serving the borough last month, Miller said.
“The truck is nice,” he said. “It’s a little roomier since we do a lot of parade work down here.”
The borough officers are all familiar with driving trucks, and Miller himself drives a Ford F-150 hybrid.
The four vehicles were purchased and detailed at a combined price of more than $300,000 to replace the department’s 2018 models. Miller explained they were purchased with a municipal government lease agreement, which allows the borough to make one payment per year for the next four to five years instead of monthly installments like a traditional lease.
The municipal government lease allows the department to purchase new vehicles about every five years, ensuring officers have reliable vehicles, Miller said. He wants all of the department’s vehicles to be the same model, so officers don’t have to account for the minor interior changes between model years, and the same key works for each SUV.
Miller said he would have considered purchasing electric police vehicles instead of gas-powered, but Ford doesn’t sell an electric model yet. He’s seen Chevrolet’s police model of an electric vehicle, but said it's too small for the department’s needs.
However, he said Ford recently released a hybrid Interceptor model he would consider in the future, but delivery dates weren’t available yet when the department purchased its vehicles.
Miller said all the vehicles arrived around the middle of August even though the truck was ordered in the fall, and the SUVs were ordered in the spring. The distributor told Miller supply chain issues leftover from the pandemic delayed the deliveries.
Krown Zelienople & LINE-X coated the underside of the vehicles and added a bed liner to the truck, Auto Accenting vinyl wrapped the vehicle to protect the logos, and The Computer Guys Pittsburgh installed the computer equipment.
