Today in Las Vegas, Ford unveiled the Police Interceptor, a replacement for the antiquated yet economical Crown Victoria. The Ford Police Interceptor is essentially a Ford Taurus hopped up on steroids awaiting to vent its rage on the next law breaking citizen.

The Police Interceptor will be released to law enforcement agencies in late 2011 as a 2012 model. Differences from the current Ford Taurus range from the subtle to the obvious. Yes the Police Interceptor shares the same body panels and instrument gages, but that is about it. 

Let's start at the front. Probably the most menacing thing you will ever see in your rear-view, the 2012 Police Interceptor is all about consequences. It features push bars with integrated LED lights and has a slick honeycomb grille nestled behind it.

The headlights, though pulled from the Taurus have been blacked out, which due to the shape of the headlight assembly make this cruiser appear to have eyebrows. Down where the fog lights should be, Ford has placed a light tube that acts as a strobe and I am sure will give this vehicle a great at night street presence when the park lights are on. What is significant about this police cruiser is that it will be the first to be offered with projector headlamps and LED's integrated into the side view mirrors.

On to the tech

Though this vehicle has enough LED's and strobe lights to turn an empty parking lot into an ecstasy filled rave party, it also has enough tech to back it up that it doesn't come off as pretentious. On the inside, the police car features voice-activated SYNC technology that has been programmed to also operate the lights and the sirens once the officer tells the car to turn them on.

In case all that driver training wears off, Ford has also included BLIS the Blind Spot Indication System to alert the driver that their is a vehicle coming up the Police Interceptor that is in its blind spot (though I doubt many police officers have to worry about being passed when driving). The BLIS system has also been tuned to sense on coming traffic when the car is in reverse, which should make backing up easier even though Ford threw in a back-up camera.

Under the hood

The 2012 Police Interceptor will come with the choice of two 3.5 liter V6 engines, one that cranks 263 horsepower and another EcoBoost engine that produces at least 365 horsepower. Both engines provide emmissions and fuel consumption reductions over the Crown Victoria it replaces; two things that no city would thumb their noses at.

Police will love it

For those of you who may one day end up in the back of one of these Police Interceptors should know that the the doors have been redesigned such that they open an extra 10 degrees. The gear selector has also been moved to the collar of the steering wheel to free up space in the center console for computers. Seats have been specially sculpted to provide room for utility belts and also give officers more leg room.

 

The unibody structure has been strengthened and reinforced and the standard 18-inch steel wheels are also vented. In the event this vehicle ends up in a "Blues Brothers" style chase and takes a tumble, it also comes equipped with standard front, side, and rollover airbags, which hopefully allow the officer to walk away from the crash but will also ensure the bad guys see their day in court.

theCD's take: With a police car that looks this good, I wouldn't mind being pulled over and have a nice little chat with the police.

Source: Ford