UndertheHood
Seguin’s
NEW
Police Cruisers There’s more than meets the eye S t o ry & P h o t o s by Rushton Ski nne r
If you haven’t noticed, there aren’t a whole lot of police sedans running around anymore. All over the U.S., bigger SUVs have replaced the passenger cars of bygone eras in favor of more room and versatility. Look anywhere and you’ll see a myriad of truck-sized vehicles owning the lanes. Some argue not everyone who buys one of these behemoths needs all that room, but for Seguin’s Police Department, the switch from small to large is a sign of the times. This switch in fleet vehicles happens every 15 years or so, with the latest update replacing the Ford Crown Victoria with the Chevrolet Tahoe. A completely different make and model offers a clean slate for new changes to be implemented, fixing problems that existed with previous fleet generations. But this time, there isn’t just a new car, it’s an entirely different class of vehicle that doesn’t only benefit the police department, but Seguin as a whole. So far, the change has been met with success, according to Seguin Police Officer Justin Mendoza. “It’s a general all-purpose vehicle ––
24 SEGUIN ~ GUADALUPE COUNTY LIVING
dirt roads, streets, going off-road sometimes,” he said. “They’re just great. A lot better than the Crown Vics, I think.” Conventionally, going up in size means moving up in weight, which can make a car top-heavy and less stable. But with new technology, many of these problems are mitigated. “There are no issues with them being top-heavy at all,” Officer Mendoza explained. “You would think that since it’s a vehicle with a higher center of gravity, it would be worse, but it’s not.” Not only do the new Tahoes not suffer from size, but they also handle better. “They have great get up and go, they’re low to the ground,” Seguin Police Sgt. Bruno Cavasos said. “At the driving schools that we go to, the instructor will make a better time in this than they can in the Crown Vic.” Of course, the new Tahoe that law enforcement uses is not readily available to the public. Just as in the past, these vehicles are heavily upgraded from stock. “They’re high-performance cars,” Cavasos said. “They’ve got a bigger and better
