After trading in their Ford Crown Victorias for a fleet of leased Chevrolet Impalas late last month, police officers are taking to the streets with a new look.

Lt. Brian McCarthy said switching to Chevrolet made good financial sense for the department after last summer’s high gas prices and news that the Ford Motor Company is planning to discontinue the Crown Victoria police package in 2011.

That left the department with a choice between the Chevrolet Impala and the Dodge Charger police packages going forward, according to McCarthy.

“Police departments are going to have to find something else to drive,” he said. “We took the hard look at both, and ultimately, after researching them both, we felt that the Chevy Impala was the most cost effective way to change over our fleet as opposed to the Dodge Chargers.”

In the past, the department has spent $60,000 a year to purchase and outfit two new Crown Victoria police interceptor models to replace older cruisers in the fleet. For roughly the same price, the department leased seven of the Impalas this year and traded in their older vehicles to cover the expense of outfitting the new cruisers. At the end of the three-year lease, McCarthy said the town can purchase the cruisers for use as administrative vehicles With front wheel drive, a 6-cylinder engine, good gas mileage and better handling in winter weather, McCarthy said the Imapala fit the bill for what the department wanted in an economical new police cruiser, but the five-year, 100,000-mile warranty that came with the leases sealed the deal. Between replacing the town’s aging police cruisers with seven new vehicles and the bumper to bumper warranties, McCarthy expects the department’s maintenance costs to be cut by a third over the next three years.

“We were running our Crown Vics up to 110,000 miles and those cars’ maintenance costs are outrageous. It doesn’t pay to hang on to these cars,” McCarthy said. “We’re optimistic that we’re going to have about 70,000 miles on these (Impalas) by the time we turn them over. If we can keep the cars in that window, that’s where we think the savings is going to be.”

The department has had to make some sacrifices since deploying the new Impalas shortly before Memorial Day weekend.

According to McCarthy, the Impalas have about an inch less of head room and less trunk space than the Crown Victoria model.

“We miss the big trunk. We carry a lot of big gear and that trunk is full,” he said. “Again, you pick up the front wheel drive and we’re hopeful that this will be a better vehicle in the snow for us. Even though it’s a 6-cylinder, its got significant horsepower and it can get up and go when it needs to.”

Despite the lack of space, McCarthy said he has received a lot of positive feedback and no complaints from the officers in his department so far. “The guys seem to like them a lot,” he said. “Cops don’t like to change. They get used to things and they’re the hardest sells. I think they like them, which is good.”

Sgt. Glen Chase, who has been with the department for 10 years, said that even with the size and weight difference with the Crown Victorias, the Impalas make a competent police package in his book.

“It’s becoming more popular with gas and fuel prices,” Chase said. “It’s got a little bit more modern flare, but again it’s not a Crown Vic. That’s the historic police department car.”