HOUSTON – The Houston Police Department is changing the look of its police vehicles.
The department unveiled the new color scheme and design for their future vehicles Monday morning. The new vehicles will have a traditional black-and-white color scheme used by many departments in California.
Houston Police Chief Charles McClelland said Ford isn't making the Crown Victoria model anymore, which is the one the department uses for its patrol cars, so he thought it was a good time to change the overall look.
The department is testing several different vehicles for its future patrol cars, including the Dodge Charger, Chevrolet Caprice, Chevrolet Tahoe and the Ford Interceptor.
Forfeiture money from drug dealers will be used to foot the bill for the new paint jobs, HPD officials said.
The entire HPD fleet of more than 1,500 patrol cars will have the new look within the next couple of years.
The police departments of Sugar Land and Missouri City recently changed their patrol cars to black and white.
Houston police are also considering changing to black uniforms to match the car, but officials are working to decide if that would be the right color because it's so hot and humid in Houston.