The force has ordered its third generation of Ford Galaxy in 13 years now, but this time it has decided on combining the high performance and with fuel savings, as they’ve switched to diesel versions. The Sussex Police teams sometimes need to attend a scene for up to eight hours at a time, with engines running at all times to power electric systems mounted to the cars, so fuel efficiency is very important.
The conversion to Police duties sees 3m telescopic roof-mounted masts carrying powerful 28,000-lumen lighting for night-time operation. In addition, the vehicles are required to carry cameras, videos, trolley jacks, toolkits, measuring and surveying gear, tripods, crew clothing and other equipment. Working closely with Sussex Police Technical Engineer Neil Neve, Ford SVP installed a bespoke racking and storage system, police livery and public-warning equipment.
“Visually the new vehicles have a greater presence on the road, which is a plus in terms of public awareness but also for the safety of the officers using them,” said Senior Collision Investigator Sergeant Colin O'Neill. “They are well-appointed, and everyone is very pleased with them in terms of stability and performance,” he said.
“It has proved the best vehicle in terms of gross vehicle weight, performance when fully loaded, road-holding and capability in performing the tasks required of it,” said Sussex Police Fleet Manager Dennis Ord.
The vehicles will be used for five years, covering more than 125,000 miles in the process.The Ford Galaxy Titanium models in question are powered by a 163 HP 2.0 Duratorq TDCi engine with six-speed manual transmission and returns 49.6mpg UK combined.
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