Westchester County Police New Color Scheme?

[firedude 985]

Does the Westchester County Department of Public Saferty (aka the County Police) have a new paint scheme on their CVPIs?

Link to Photo

Edited May 28, 2011 by firedude

[Mofire24 27]

yeah there is 1 suv and 3 or 4 cars out now with more on the way the fleet is changing over to blue and white there is 4 new motorcyles blue and white and the new command post is coming in blue and white

[SRS131EMTFF 471]

Another one of Astorino's brilliant ideas I am sure. Hire your friends with giant raises, cut services and spend unnecessary money on going from white to white and blue stripes....all while Westchester remains the highest taxed county in the nation....

[OoO 24]

Ugliest looking police car I've seen in recent memory. Reminds me of the old style NYPD cars.

[FDNYBuff97 5]

Saw one of them parked outside of a 7-11 on Bronx River Road in Yonkers

[firedude 985]

Alright, I got persmision from the photographer to post the photos. These photos are not mine!

_MG_7718 by ses7, on Flickr

_MG_7717 by ses7, on Flickr

_MG_7714 by ses7, on Flickr

Picture City Of White Plains New York Saint Patrick's Day Held On Saturday March 12, 2011. Various Police Agency Motorcycle Units Start The Parade. - Westchester County Police Motorcycle Unit by ses7, on Flickr

Edited May 28, 2011 by firedude

[x635 4,066]

I REALLY like it, actually. The paint scheme stands out and makes the car a lot more visible, esepcially on the county's parkways where they often get hit.

[INIT915 1,119]

Another one of Astorino's brilliant ideas I am sure. Hire your friends with giant raises, cut services and spend unnecessary money on going from white to white and blue stripes....all while Westchester remains the highest taxed county in the nation....

Well, correct me if I'm wrong, but they are most likely not spending any money to convert the existing fleet, rather, just apply the new scheme to the incoming fleet. They would have paid for the new cars one way or the other.

Also, and helicopper can jump in here if I'm off base, but I'm not sure the County Executive is micro-managing right down to the decals on the news cars. If he is, well, these cars will become the least of the County's problems.

[grumpyff 1,159]

Even if it is just the new cars, it will cost more money than an all white car with reflective stripes. IIRC when NYPD made the switch from baby blue and white to all white the savings was several hundred per car, and this was 15 years ago

[INIT915 1,119]

Even if it is just the new cars, it will cost more money than an all white car with reflective stripes. IIRC when NYPD made the switch from baby blue and white to all white the savings was several hundred per car, and this was 15 years ago

That may be, I've never had a car painted. But the cost of doing all the new cars versus retrofitting all the old cars in addition to the new ones should be a considerable difference.

[INIT915 1,119]

That may be, I've never had a car painted. But the cost of doing all the new cars versus retrofitting all the old cars in addition to the new ones should be a considerable difference.

Although I'll add, I do prefer the old, all-white, scheme.

[SRS131EMTFF 471]

Well, correct me if I'm wrong, but they are most likely not spending any money to convert the existing fleet, rather, just apply the new scheme to the incoming fleet. They would have paid for the new cars one way or the other.

Also, and helicopper can jump in here if I'm off base, but I'm not sure the County Executive is micro-managing right down to the decals on the news cars. If he is, well, these cars will become the least of the County's problems.

I thank grumpyff as he summed up my point rather easily. Quite frankly it cost more money to custom paint a car than receive it in dealer white.

With all of the penny pinching this executive seems to be touting, allowing an agency to switch from an existing color scheme to a new, more expensive one is hypocritical regardless of your opinion of the county executive or the paint job. I agree with several cuts/propositions he has made, and disagreed with others he has made/ have proposed, I would be saying the same thing if he wanted to get custom graphics on most county cars other than the obligate stickers. Personally I liked the other paint job better but if this is just for looks and has no direct bearing on anyones safety then I think the money even if it is a few hundred dollars per car can be spent more wisely. I also never imagined that they would retrofit the entire fleet. This isnt a dig on anyone, but if its purely for ascetics then its money wasted. And even if he isnt micro-managing at this level, which I am sure he is not, it is regardless occurring during his administration.

When you factor in the apparent political nepotism associated with massive salary increases in his administration, my already low support for this executive has been diminished even further.

Edited May 29, 2011 by SRS131EMTFF

[grumpyff 1,159]

Here is a link to a 1996 Daily News article about the NYPD switching to all white RMP's. Savings per car $800. My linkhttp://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/1996/06/24/1996-06-24_bye-bye_nypd_blue__new_polic.html I can only imagine what this new blue/white scheme is costing Westchester County per car in today's market.

[texastom791 31]

Saw one of these on the hutch the other day. I think the all white looks better.

[JScott128 41]

I agree with Seth, I think the car looks good. And for the guys that are complaining about the extra cost, how much more does it cost? Or are you just assuming that it costs a lot of money? I tried to find a price for the NY State Contract for Fords 2 tone special paint option SP212 but couldn't find a price. I did find a price on the web for Florida's contract, and it is only $450. If the NY cost is similar, that is not that much money to improve the vehicle's visibility and improve officer safety.

Scott

[PFDRes47cue 653]

Just saw one of the new patrol car on the Saw Mill Parkway while operating at an MVA. I think the new color scheme is very sharp and the cars look great. I think if the new color scheme improves the PO's safety then reasonable cost should not be an issue.

Edited May 29, 2011 by PFDRes47cue

[Bnechis 3,961]

Here is a link to a 1996 Daily News article about the NYPD switching to all white RMP's. Savings per car $800...... I can only imagine what this new blue/white scheme is costing Westchester County per car in today's market.

And for the guys that are complaining about the extra cost, how much more does it cost? Or are you just assuming that it costs a lot of money? I tried to find a price for the NY State Contract for Fords 2 tone special paint option SP212 but couldn't find a price. I did find a price on the web for Florida's contract, and it is only $450. If the NY cost is similar, that is not that much money to improve the vehicle's visibility and improve officer safety.

1) The two-tone NYS contract is only for Black & White Cars (dont know the price).

2) NRPD switched from two tone (blue & white) to white because of cost. I forget what the savings was, but it was over $800 per car.

3) Before the CE took office we reviewed the DPS budget and found the county spends almost $20,000 more on equipping its comprable cars, than local PD. Part of the reason for the cost is they do not use the county contract for setting up the cars.

[Haggerty 1029 16]

I like the new cruisers, always had a thing for 2 tone cars. Whats with the push bars on the cars? Is there any metal behind those? And when my fathers PD switched fro blue cars a few had to be retrofitted to B&W and they were quoted around 800 to have it done per car.

[27east 19]

3) Before the CE took office we reviewed the DPS budget and found the county spends almost $20,000 more on equipping its comprable cars, than local PD. Part of the reason for the cost is they do not use the county contract for setting up the cars.

I'm confused- County employees set up the county cars?

[27east 19]

I remember seeing a pic (somehwere) of the blue and white scheme, but with the door stripes surrounding the patch and just "County Police" on the lower part of the doors. I'll try to find it.

What are the white domes on the trunk?

[ny10570 745]

paint jobs do not improve visibility. If all the lights and reflective striping don't do it, no color is going to make a difference. The additional cost of painting the car is compounded by the additional cost of repairing these cars.

When they are slashing budgets and laying people off, every wasted dollar matters.

[SRS131EMTFF 471]

I will also supplement my opinion with something from the IACP Law Enforcement Safe Stops Program

"2007 CACP TRAFFIC SAFETY SYMPOSIUM

IMPROVING OFFICER SAFETY DURING TRAFFIC STOPS

A 2003 review of 31

(known) rear-end

crashes involving

stopped police vehicles

found that the vast

majority of struck

vehicles were black.

A 2003 study by OSHP led the

organization to change the

primary car color from dark gray

to white."

http://www.cacp.ca/media/events/efiles/104/BrigetteCharles.pdf

[Bnechis 3,961]

I'm confused- County employees set up the county cars?

DPW purchases the cars, sets them up and bills DPS at a rate that is much higher than the county contract that most city, town, village depts use.

[grumpyff 1,159]

IIRC this was done to prevent overtime. Prior to 2002 there was a Westchester County PD officer that set up new cars and did plowing around the buildings who doubled his pension. The Journal News had a field day with it. Here is link to an abstract of the article. My linkhttp://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/lohud/access/1814185471.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Dec+18%2C+2003&author=Keith+Eddings&pub=The+Journal+News&edition=&startpage=A.1&desc=Westchester+police+get+ban+on+overtime I refuse to pay the Journal News for anything.

[peterose313 345]

"This design made its debut last june. I think thay are looking at new "eye catching" designs. They could also be trying to use different color cars for their airport division or parkway division. If you are interested in finding out more about this car, stop by fleet demo day at playland, from 10am-2pm on June 10th. The County police always bring out their new "toys" Please note that you need to register online."

1 of the comments left from someone on the flickr picture for this.

[Dinosaur 844]

For FD members with duplicative, redundant and extravagant apparatus, equipment, and stations to be so critical for the painting of some police cars is really disingenuous.

The PD has as much right to paint their vehicles as the FD's do. What's the difference?

[Just a guy 493]

I'm usually the first one to associate posts with politics but this time I have to throw a flag on the play. To think that Rob astorino has any say with the color scheme on the county police cars is pure nonsense.

I was involved in a pursuit that the county PD had in Yonkers the other night and that was the first time I had seen the new colors and after ribbing a county cop I knew about them converting to the colors of the new york mets ( which I totally agree with) I told those guys that I liked the new colors. The colors look sharp and professional and they stand out. This is one topic that politics can 100% be left out of. The amount of money spent on the new colors is negligible compared to what the county spends on welfare, section 8, etc.... I would rather see the money go to the PD all day !!!!

[ny10570 745]

I will also supplement my opinion with something from the IACP Law Enforcement Safe Stops Program

"2007 CACP TRAFFIC SAFETY SYMPOSIUM

IMPROVING OFFICER SAFETY DURING TRAFFIC STOPS

A 2003 review of 31

(known) rear-end

crashes involving

stopped police vehicles

found that the vast

majority of struck

vehicles were black.

A 2003 study by OSHP led the

organization to change the

primary car color from dark gray

to white."

http://www.cacp.ca/media/events/efiles/104/BrigetteCharles.pdf

What percent of the total vehicles on the road were black?? Wasn't there a large shift towards black and white cars around that time? I know around here they were increasingly popular for a bit. I guarantee that the majority of the fire trucks involved in fatal fires and roll overs accidents are red. Thats either a poorly written stat or a bullshit number used to push an agenda.

[SECTMB 612]

Boring! Looks like a blue and white variation on the Mayberry squad car. Jazz them up, chrome wheels, some graphics. They spend a huge amount of the their career time in a car, give the PD a ride they can have some pride in.

[helicopper 1,050]

(In a reply to a post made not visible)

Is your message that the police shouldn't have vehicles to drive because of a fiscal crisis? If you're a cop as your profile suggests you know that vehicles are purchased regularly to maintain the fleet and that money usually comes from a different pool of money (capital vs. operating).

Our members haven't had a contract in two years but vehicle replacement continues because it has to. That doesn't mean there's no fiscal crisis. It's a necessity or we'd be unable to respond to a lot of calls.

As for this whole debate over painting of cars, why are we concerned about a couple of hundred dollars for paint and not the duplicative costs of seven PD's in a single town or 42 PSAPs instead of a real 911 center and communications system.

I "hear" that Ford is providing two tone or white cars for nearly the same cost (I say nearly because I "hear" this and have no personal knowledge of it).

I'm all for talking about saving money but there are much bigger fish to fry than this one.