Salt Lake County, Unified police want to fight pollution while they fight crime

A near new Ford hybrid Police Interceptor is pictured at the Unified Police Department’s headquarters in South Salt Lake on Wednesday, March 4, 2020. The department is stepping up its efforts to help keep Salt Lake County’s air clean. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Department aims to have all hybrid patrol cars in 4 years

SOUTH SALT LAKE — The Unified Police Department is stepping up its efforts to help keep Salt Lake County’s air clean.

Police and county officials, including Mayor Jenny Wilson, introduced the department’s first hybrid police patrol vehicles Wednesday. The department will initially add nine Ford Police Interceptors and four Toyota RAV4s. So far seven of those vehicles are in use, with another six on the way.

The 2020 Ford Interceptors are believed to be the first pursuit-certified hybrid vehicles, according to police.

“That’s the amazing thing about this new hybrid vehicle is there’s no real compromise. This is purpose-built. This particular 2020 model is all new, ground up,” said Scott Clark, a government sales manager for Ford who helped the county close the deal.

The Interceptors have a top speed of about 140 mph and are built to sustain a rear-end crash up to 75 mph and still keeping the driver safe, Clark said. Plus, using the hybrid vehicles will save the county an estimated $3,100 per vehicle each year, he said.

Unified Police Chief Jason Mazuran said he had the chance to test drive the Interceptor and doesn’t believe any of the police-standard qualities that officers have in their current patrol cars will be compromised.

“In fact, this is the most technologically advanced police car, in my opinion, that’s out there. They’re good cars. They’re safe,” he said.

Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Unified Police Department Chief Jason Mazuran talks about the department’s new Ford hybrid Police Interceptors at police headquarters in South Salt Lake on Wednesday, March 4, 2020. The department is stepping up its efforts to help keep Salt Lake County’s air clean.

But Mazuran admits there’s one new feature in the vehicle that will take some getting used to.

“When you’re sitting in there and the whole car goes quiet. And it’s still on. It’s still running. But then it also fires up by itself and then it goes quiet,” he said.

“For us, that’s going to be great because we get in a lot of situations where we have so much equipment in that vehicle that has to be powered up.”

For example, when officers respond to a traffic accident, they often have to keep their overhead lights and police radios running for long periods of time. With the hybrids, the vehicles will automatically know when to turn off and when to power up.

“It’ll keep our equipment going, the lights, the radio, all that’s drawing power heavily. Right now, if you turn the power off and you have a lot of equipment going, there’s a good chance you’ll be calling someone to come jump your car,” Mazuran said.

Detectives and police administrators will be driving the unmarked RAV4s. There are an estimated 300 patrol vehicles in Unified’s fleet and 450 vehicles overall. As older vehicles are retired, they will be replaced with hybrids, Mazuran said. The goal is to have all hybrid patrol cars within four years.

Also on Wednesday, police announced renewed efforts to get the public to do their part in keeping the county’s air clean by reminding them of the idling laws.

Salt Lake County and Unified have come up with pamphlets to distribute to drivers they see sitting in idling cars for extended periods of time. Most people, Mazuran said, simply need a reminder.

The goal, he said, is to hand out more pamphlets than tickets.

“Most people, I think, are legitimately concerned about the environment and want to do the right thing. So having to go to that enforcement step would be the last resort. But if we need to do it, we need to do it.”

Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson speaks near new Ford hybrid Police Interceptors at the Unified Police Department’s headquarters in South Salt Lake on Wednesday, March 4, 2020. The department is stepping up its efforts to help keep Salt Lake County’s air clean.

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