Page 390 - NIXBOOK

We were a little behind the learning curve in that regard though, because we decided to then get several Ford Explorers for a
few years after that; I think around the year 2005. They were much more utilitarian then the sedans, and the four wheel drive
was really nice during inclement weather because we didn’t have to fuss around with tire chains in the snow. They weren’t the
perfect solution, but they were a bit smaller than the giant Expedition, and most cops who drove them really liked how they
handled, the size inside, and the size of it on the outside. Most importantly, the seats were higher up than the Crown Vic sedans,
which we eventually discovered made a pretty significant difference for the older officers. Getting in and out of a car that’s low
to the ground could get to be a little much on one’s back. Especially when a duty belt is being worn. Eventually pretty much
every officer preferred the higher seating arrangement of the Explorers over the Crown Vics, myself included.
The Ford Explorers back in those days, - like the Expedition – were also a bit unusual. In fact, no other police agencies in the
county had any. We bought a total of 4, I think. They handled much better in the snow than the sedans did.

We had some other cars; our detectives over the years drove a variety of plain, unmarked cars. The lineup included a silver
Chevy Impala, a green Chevy Lumina, and an old red Buick sedan. The undercover cars were sometimes new ones that had
hidden lights installed in the front grill and a police radio under the dashboard. And sometimes we’d take a used car seized
from a drug dealer and convert that to our use for a few years.

Speaking of, it was common for bigger police agencies to swap undercover cars with other agencies; if a criminal’s seized car was
particularly distinctive looking, it was usually just best to remove it from the county where all the other drug users would
recognize it, and trade it with another seized car from another police agency a couple counties away.