The Chattanooga Police Department unveiled its new sport utility vehicles this week.
A few of the new 2022 model Ford Explorers were on public display Wednesday at the Calvary Chapel Pavilion on St. Elmo Avenue.
"Our fleet is Ford, and our shop is set up for Ford products," Sydney Hamon, a department spokeswoman, said in an email to the Chattanooga Times Free Press. "These vehicles should be rolling out by the end of the month."
The base vehicle was priced at $35,061, and the additional required equipment brought costs up to $45,476, according to Hamon.
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The department is expecting to have 50 of the new SUVs in its fleet. Each vehicle will have a new light bar on top, along with a new sound bar -- to alert motorists in times of emergency -- added to the front that will give officers better visibility and sound, according to Hamon.
In 2021, police unveiled a new line of patrol cars in an effort to reduce the department's carbon footprint, according to its Facebook page.
"We are switching over to all SUVs," Hamon said. "We received hybrids last year, and they are getting average 20.75 mpg, and the standard (vehicles) are getting average 17.47 mpg."
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Contact La Shawn Pagán at lpagan@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476. Follow her on Twitter @LaShawnPagan.