By Sarah Roebuck
Police1
ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Anaheim Police Department is adding six electric vehicles to its fleet as part of a pilot program, KABC reports.
The department is testing Tesla Model Y cruisers. The goal of the pilot program is to “ensure the agency is equipped with enough police vehicles to properly serve the community and determine if the Model Y platform is suitable for our new patrol vehicles,” the department said in a statement.
“We were able to get these directly from Tesla’s current inventory,” Sgt. Jacob Gallacher told KABC.
Anaheim police said they were in dire need of new cruisers due to the department’s aging fleet and delays in vehicle production.
“Due to our patrol vehicle shortage, we had to seek out alternative vehicle options, which led us to explore utilizing Teslas as police vehicles,” said Chief Rick Armendariz. “We are enhancing public safety for Anaheim by getting patrol vehicles into service faster.”
Six weeks ago, the Anaheim City Council greenlit a $320,000 pilot program, Gallacher noted. Two of the new police units are operational, and the remaining four Teslas will be deployed as soon as they are prepared.
Gallacher mentioned that 16 officers are currently undergoing training to operate the new electric cruisers and will perform daily assessments of the vehicle’s performance to determine their suitability.
Anaheim police said the Tesla Model Y was selected for its advanced features, such as rapid acceleration, storage capacity and low maintenance requirements. The Tesla cruisers are expected to hit the streets within the next couple of weeks.
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