Havre Police Department gets two new patrol cars

After months of waiting, the Havre Police Department has received two new patrol vehicles for their fleet.

“They are really nice; they are set up well,” Police Chief Gabe Matosich said.

The department put in an order for new patrol vehicles February and April of last year, Matosich said, with the vehicles arriving in November.

He added that the new vehicles are 2018 Dodge Chargers, with the police package, and were purchased through Tilleman’s Hi-Line Dodge and paid for by the Capital Improvement Program.

Matosich said, the department always tries to go through the state bid program for their vehicles. He added that the new patrol cars were $30,000 per vehicle, not including the police package.

The department tries to rotate out one patrol vehicle in the fleet every year, he said, but last year’s weather was hard on vehicles, so the department had to purchase two new ones.

Matosich added that the police department has a total of six patrol vehicles in their fleet.

The department is liking these vehicles, he said.

The last time the department received a vehicle was in 2016, he said, with the purchase of a patrol vehicle for the School Resource Officer through the School Resource Officer program.

The two newest vehicles are equipped with some of the latest technology and some special features that are specifically for the police department, he said.

“They are really nice, well equipped,” Matosich said. “… The safety features on them are really nice.”

One of the new capabilities the officers will have with the vehicles is the LED lighting system is now capable of dimming during the night to help officers avoid blinding oncoming motorists, he said. The vehicles were also specifically designed for police officer use, Matosich said, from officers hand placement while inside the vehicle to the airbag system. The vehicles are also equipped with backup cameras, so officers can see behind them, and blind spot alerts, he said. He added that the vehicles are also economic on fuel and have special all-season tires installed.

Matosich said that one of his favorite features on the new vehicles is the all-wheel-drive capability.

“Pretty neat features; the guys like them and they are getting use to them,” Matosich said.

Over the years, Matosich said, the department has purchased Chevrolet or Ford vehicles, although Chevy no longer manufacture Impalas and Ford no longer has the model for the Taurus. He said that was one of the reasons they decided to purchase the Dodge Chargers.

The department has used several companies to install the police package for the department over the years, this year, he said, the company was GFX Law, a Division of Ground Effects Ltd.

The vehicle went directly from the manufacturer to GFX Law, then was taken to Havre, where they are ready to go other than a few details and items the department puts in, Matosich said.

The old patrol vehicles, if possible, are taken out of service, and decommissioned, he added, then auctioned off by the city of Havre.

He said one of their decommissioned vehicles will be auctioned off this year.