SITKA, ALASKA While the Sitka Police Department is hesitant to replace its fleet with hybrids, other law enforcement organizations are giving them a try.
An internet search of “hybrid police cars” turns up numerous police departments in this country and abroad that have turned to hybrids.
One of the most successful hybrid programs is at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, sixty miles west of Chicago.
Bill Finucane is the transportation manager for NIU. Five years ago he bought the school’s first Toyota Prius hybrid for the campus motor pool. A year later, the first Prius entered the campus police fleet.
Since then, Finucane has replaced almost every standard sedan on campus with the Prius. Currently, four of the school’s six police squad cars are Priuses. By next year, campus police will be driving hybrids exclusively, including two Ford Escape hybrid SUV’s.
KCAW’s Robert Woolsey spoke with Finucane about NIU’s transition to the police hybrid:
© Copyright 1970, Raven Radio Foundation Inc.
