ST. MARYS, Ga. – That Ford F-150 pickup truck you see in your rearview mirror when driving through St. Marys, Georgia, could be one of the newest in a fleet of patrol vehicles just bought by the police department.
With permission from the city council, the St. Marys Police Department (SMPD) bought five new pickups for $140,000, due in part to necessity, the department said.
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Ford's decision not to manufacture the Crown Victoria, once the widely popular vehicle of choice for police patrol vehicles, was a big deciding factor for the SMPD.
Even though the SMPD had purchased Dodge Chargers in the past, administrators said those vehicles were costly to maintain.
Of the other vehicles considered for purchase -- the Chevrolet Tahoe, the Ford Police Utility and the Ford Police Sedan -- the police department said the Ford F-150 was among the least expensive under the state contract pricing.
Due to the cost of the equipment needed to be installed in each vehicle, the SMPD said it needed to keep the coast to about $114,000 for all of the vehicles. They tell us the cost for the five Ford F-150's totaled $114,760.
The Ford Sedan was cheaper, but the police department said in a statement that this vehicle "is a new vehicle platform, and it has not been proven yet."
The SMPD said it was also able to cut costs -- more than $5,000 per vehicle -- by re-using some equipment such as radios, video systems and radars.