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Posted by: kwflatbed

Story by nbc5i.com




Dallas police acknowledge converting more than 100 police cruisers to natural gas was a million-dollar mistake, saying the cars aren't suited for police work and are a maintenance headache.

Officers said the range in the cruisers were not up to par with their gasoline-powered counterparts and sometimes required multiple fill-ups per shift. Officers also claimed the acceleration was not what it needed to be.

So, officials with the Dallas Police Deparment moved the CNG cruisers to other divisions where high-performance wasn't needed. NBC 5 reported that nearly one-third of the natural gas police cruiser fleet is out of service, plagued by chronic mechanical problems.

Despite the program's shortcomings, Dallas City Manager Mary Suhm stands behind the city's decision to take part in the experiment.

"I don't ever want to be in the position where we are scared to try something that may be a benefit for our air quality or our operations," said Suhm. "I also don't want to be scared to say, 'OK, that didn't work as well as we thought. Let's rethink that and do it another way.'"

Copyright 2006 by nbc5i.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Posted by: RPD931

Don't you think they should have did a little more field testing before blowing that kind of dough?

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Posted by: Andy0921

yeah they should of tested a few cruisers berfore making a lot of the fleet these POS cruisers.

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Posted by: cjmajor

sounds good to me!!

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Posted by: HousingCop

I am all for saving fuel in this day & age but the touchy feel-good granola crunchers should not have adapted full size police cars to LNG for this experiment. A police car is only as good as its acceleration and its driver. Why not give them 1988 Yugo's instead?

LNG works well if you convert a car which is used 9-5 M-F for the Pest Control guy or the Wire Inspector. Look at some of the main utility companies that have switched. N-Star comes to mind. These cars are not driven full time and only given to the supervisor so he can check on the various work crews he has under his command.

It's bad enough the police are hampered by poor court decisons and bad management. Throw in a useless Crown Vic into the situation and you've only compounded your problem. Dallas is HOT 10 months out of the year. I am sure the A/C is running constantly which drains engine muscle away from the motor contributed to these problems as well. The bean counter who thought this out should be walking to the unemployment office if you want my opinion.

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Posted by: SOT

I hear the new steam and coal powered cruisers are the shiznat!

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Posted by: stm4710

Quote:

Originally Posted by SOT_II I hear the new steam and coal powered cruisers are the shiznat!

Just toss on a MDT and a shot gun rack and your ready for the streets!

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