Crime & Safety

Cranberry Police to Get Trucking with New Ford F-150

The department will be one of the first in the area to utilize the pickup truck.

Cranberry’s fleet of police vehicles is getting a new look.

At Thursday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, officials approved purchasing a Ford F-150 truck for the Cranberry Police Department to replace its 2007 Ford Expedition.

The truck will cost $28,780, which Cranberry Sgt. Chuck Mascellino said is about the same cost as a new sports utility vehicle. The department typically replaces its vehicles once they reach more than 100,000 miles, Mascellino said.

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As for why the department chose to go with a truck instead of another SUV, the answer is simple—more room.

Mascellino said the bed in the pickup truck would give officers more ability to haul bikes, dogs cages, vehicle parts and other items

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In the past, officers have used their personal vehicle, or gotten the township’s public works department to assist them, when they were unable to load items into their police vehicles. Police cruisers are filled almost to capacity with computers, a prisoner partition and other equipment, according to Public Safety Director Jeff Schueler.

“The one thing we have lacked is the ability to haul certain items,” Mascellino said. “Even in an SUV, you don’t have room to haul something like a bike,”

Mascellino said the truck also has more room in the interior compared to an SUV.

Cranberry would be one of the first departments in the area to utilize the pickup truck as a police vehicle.

Franklin Township in Beaver County also has a Ford F-150 for its police department and Mascellino said Cranberry has received positive feedback on it from Franklin officers.

“Several other employees of the township also have them as personal vehicles,” he said.

The Ford-150 will be ordered by the end of the month. Once the truck is outfitted for the department, it could be on the road by early fall, Mascellino said.

The truck may also be reused in Cranberry when the police department readies to replace it in the future. Mascellino said the F-150 could be transferred to the township’s parks and recreation or public works for use by those departments.

“We do have a lot of second life for our vehicles,” Mascellino said. “They’ve been well maintained throughout the first 100,000 miles we use them.”

Cranberry supervisors also authorized the police department to buy two Dodge Charges to replace two of the department’s older Ford Crown Victorias. The cost for the two Chargers is $55,070.

Mascellino noted Ford stopped making Crown Victorias last year. After officers test-drove both the Chevy Caprice and the Charger as possible replacements, the department decided to go with the Charger—again because of space.

“It really is a tight fit,” Mascellino said of the Caprice. “The Chargers have a little bit more room.”

Thoughts on the police department getting a Ford F-150 and Chargers? Share them in the comment section below.

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