Police going back black and white
By ALEX BRANCH
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
STAR-TELEGRAM/RON T. ENNIS
Officer Nestor Martinez says the new patrol car paint scheme is "pretty sharp."
FORT WORTH -- Fort Worth police are looking old-school.
A few black and white police cars are showing up around the city and the department will begin phasing in 117 more of the classic-style cruisers next week.
"I think they're pretty sharp," officer Nestor Martinez said.
The City Council voted to redesign the cars last year, saying black and white would make officers more visible. The new cars will replace the plain white cars, which were scheduled for retirement.
Some commanders are already driving the cars, said Lt. Dean Sullivan, police spokesman. Most of the upcoming shipment of Ford Crown Victorias will go to patrol officers.
It will take about six weeks to outfit them all, he said. By April, about half of the department's 550 marked units could be black and whites.
A growing number of police departments nationally have switched to black and white cars, after decades of using colors conveying a friendlier image. Hurst and Azle are among the local departments that have made the change.
Alex Branch, 817-390-7689 abranch@star-telegram.com