The previous generation of Dodge Charger has become a mainstay of police forces around the country. Following the demise of the much-loved Ford Crown Victoria, the Charger has mostly taken its spot as the go-to patrol and pursuit vehicle, with officers utilizing its optional V8 power, all-wheel drive, and spacious cabin to execute their duties.
The last-generation Charger was discontinued in December 2023, leaving police forces nationwide to turn to heavier SUVs like the Dodge Durango, Ford Explorer, and Chevrolet Tahoe for patrol duties. A new Charger does exist, mind you, but being available only as an EV for the past year makes it unsuitable for many departments’ needs. (Gas-powered Chargers just kicked off production this month, but with a starting price of $53,990 for the sedan, they’re not exactly the economical choice).
While those SUVs I listed earlier are nice and spacious, they’re not exactly meant for actual pursuit duties. They’re heavier and have a higher center of gravity, putting them at a disadvantage versus the lower-slung, lighter-weight Chargers.
Instead of waiting for the new gas-powered Charger sedan, many departments have turned to a more purpose-built vehicle that puts performance before practicality and efficiency: the Ford Mustang. And the New York State Police will soon be one of those departments.
The Mustang Has Become The Go-To For Several Departments
Since the last-gen Charger’s demise, the Mustang has seen a boon in interest from police departments for its V8 power–something neither Dodge nor Chevy offers in anything other than its big SUVs and pickup trucks.
“We have seen a number of police departments across the country purchase Mustangs for law enforcement,” a Ford spokesperson told me over email.
Looking for that sort of grunt, the Georgia State Patrol decided to add 15 Mustangs to its fleet in May 2024. Soon after, the Richland County Sheriff’s Department in South Carolina bought 17 Mustang GTs for its department that July. North Carolina added 25 Mustang GTs to its Highway Patrol fleet in February of this year. In July, Virginia State Troopers and the Florida Highway Patrol added Mustang GTs to their respective fleets. Just last month, Indiana added five Mustangs to its State Patrol.
The raw power from the Mustang GT’s 480-horsepower eight-cylinder was a big motivator for the department in Georgia, which also currently runs a small selection of Camaros and Challengers. From the Detroit Free Press:
“The V8 is a durable engine that can meet the demands of law enforcement,” Major David Bryant of the Georgia State Patrol told the Free Press. “The Mustang has a faster 0-60 time and a higher top speed than the other patrol vehicles in our fleet … Most of the new Mustangs will go to patrol posts that cover the interstate system in Georgia.”
[…]
“We need speed for speed enforcement and pursuits,” Capt. Shane Allen of the Georgia State Patrol told the Free Press. “We’re definitely mindful of the dangers and the liability involved. Of course, we train for those things – in trooper school and annual in-service trainings. We’re not forced to pursue. We’re allowed to call a chase off if we think danger to the public is greater than catching the person at the time.”
[…]
The V8 engine meets police needs, Allen said. “Truth is, everything is getting faster. Vehicles we try to stop every day are getting faster, from a Kia to a Mercedes. This is a way for us to keep up with the changes in the vehicle market.”
While I’m not entirely convinced a V8 is necessary for this sort of job, I’d much rather have a Mustang over the gas-powered Charger Sixpack if my goal was to chase down criminals. While the Dodge gets standard all-wheel drive, the inline-six in that car makes 60 fewer horsepower, while being nearly half a ton heavier and costing about $3,000 more than a base Mustang GT. That being said, Indiana officials told the Indiana Capital Chronicle its Mustangs are “meant to deter, not invite, pursuits.”
The Mustangs, which still make up a small fraction of some of these forces, are good for more than just speed. Sports cars turned into police cruisers, Need for Speed: Most Wanted style, are inherently cool to most people, making these GT patrol cars big hits for community engagement and at recruiting events.
“Many agencies across the country are using Mustang GT for detective work, on-duty work, and in their recruitment efforts for new police academy enrollment,” another Ford spokesperson told me.
This isn’t the first time the Mustang has made a name for itself in law enforcement. The Foxbody-generation Mustang SSP graced the fleets of several police departments throughout the 1980s, with those models now among the most valuable Foxbodys you can buy.
Add New York To The List
The whole reason I’m writing about the Mustang’s rise to prominence in the law enforcement sector is thanks to a post on Facebook I saw in a Group relating to the Taconic State Parkway, a road that runs 104 miles from the northern tip of New York City up the east side of the Hudson River.
Dave Ferringer, the post’s author, claims to have spoken to an unnamed New York State Trooper, who told Ferringer the agency would be joining the States mentioned above in adding Mustangs to their fleet to catch people who are purposefully running from the cops for clout. From that post:
Per the trooper I spoke to ( troop K ) they are tired of being dusted in chases even in their v8 powered chargers. There are several popular YouTubers who make a living running from the cops across the nation and the biggest of them happen to be in NY. Let that be a warning to you, a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do, but better come with enough ponies & car control to do what you want to do.
Having spent hours upon hours using the Taconic State Parkway to get from my home in New York City to places like Lime Rock Park in western Connecticut, I was intrigued. While it’s true that influencers in New York, such as Squeeze and License, have gained huge followings on social media for evading police, the state’s attorney general, Letitia James, has recently pushed to ban high-speed police pursuits altogether. From a report published in June (emphasis mine):
Police chases have been shown to increase danger and result in injury or fatalities to drivers, passengers, bystanders, and police. We offer the following recommendations:
-Pass legislation to increase transparency
New York law enforcement agencies should be required to track and publish a standardized set of data about traffic pursuits and high-speed chases. This should be facilitated by a centralized agency such as the Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS).
–Ban high-speed police pursuits, with very narrow exceptions
High-speed chases can be deadly. Chases may be necessary when a serious or violent felony has been or will be committed, and when the driver’s conduct poses an imminent threat of death. But, in large part, ordinary speeding or minor traffic infractions should not lead to a high-speed, dangerous chase.
Yet, the State Police confirmed to me via email that not only is it planning to add Mustangs to its force, but it already has one in its possession. From Beau Duffy, the State Police force’s executive director of public communication:
The New York State Police will be adding Ford Mustang GTs for traffic enforcement on high-volume interstates and highways. Since the Dodge Charger police car is no longer being manufactured, the State Police is moving toward SUVs for patrol vehicles, including the Dodge Durango, Ford Explorer and Chevrolet Tahoe.
Like the Georgia State Patrol, the NYSP specifically cites the Mustang’s performance capabilities for why it was chosen:
The Mustangs’ will have the speed and handling capabilities necessary for patrol operations and special enforcement details on high-volume interstates and highways, working together with the larger patrol SUVs. The NYSP has purchased one 2025 Mustang GT and anticipate attaining some 2026 Mustang GT models. The Mustangs should be available for patrol and traffic enforcement sometime next year. Specific details on deployment have not yet been determined.
While the New York State Police wasn’t specific about why it wants the speed and handling capabilities of the Mustang in its force, I can think of only one logical reason: So the cops can keep up with people trying to flee.
The decision to add muscle cars to the fleet comes as high-speed pursuits have surged in New York in recent years, with pursuits involving State Troopers doubling from 2018 to 2024, according to the Times Union. The publication did a whole deep dive last year on high-speed chases in the state, finding, perhaps unsurprisingly, that crashes and deaths also rose as a result:
As chases become more common in New York, so have pursuit-related car crashes and deaths, the Times Union found. A decade of New York crash data shows a notable rise in pursuit-related car crashes in 2020, 2021 and 2022, the same years when pursuits climbed in the state.
There were also more deadly pursuits in the past four years in New York than at any other time since 2012, the Times Union found. There have been four fatal pursuits resulting in seven deaths in the first half of this year.
One might suspect that giving State Troopers access to high-powered muscle cars could continue this upward trend of pursuits, as officers feel empowered to chase down fleeing cars in their shiny new Mustangs. Whether that’ll happen or the state will actually clamp down on high-speed chases, well, the world will have to wait and see.
Top graphic image: North Carolina State Highway Patrol; ESPN
I’m not buying it that they “need” the Mustang. They just have inflated budgets and love their toys.
It’s not like the 1980s where you had the Caprice or Crown Vic with just 170hp and the V8 Mustang of that era being meaningfully faster.
These days the Hemi Charger is as fast as the Mustang.
And if they REALLY needed performance, they would get a long range AWD version of the Mustang Mach E.
But the Mach E doesn’t make loud VROOOM VROOM noises like the toys they want.
They could put a request into the department of war for some reapers and hellfires.
Fuck, don’t give Pete Whiskeyleaks ideas
Well the Hemi Charger is gone but even when it was around the EcoBoost Utility Interceptor had a higher top speed and was quicker around the track in MSP testing.
If acceleration is the concern then yes the Mach-E smokes them all, but it is the slowest around the track and has one of the lower top speeds.
I’ve seen some of those NY youtube idiots’ videos.
Any cop driving aggressively enough to keep their taillights in sight is not increasing public safety.
In the year of our lord 2025, we again fail to realize that Newton’s second law also applies socially. Has proliferation of force against oppositional defiance ever ended positively? At best you conclude in mutually assured destruction. If some dude is getting famous getting into police chases, maybe just don’t chase the guy? Just chasing the guy faster seems painfully obviously flawed.
The last of the V8 interceptors.
Kick her in the guts Barry!
Why does this remind me of the song from The Rookie “Arrest me, but make it sexyyyy”.
I hate to be THAT guy, but having lived in Istanbul in the late 90s….. that driving was so lame. Some of my “normal” drives with friends looked like that. The real guys were actually insane. In Civics and Tofas cars, not poseur lamborghinis. This is weak stuff.
Copstangs fall against the Laptop Civic
I can’t think of a single state law enforcement agency that isn’t full of people that shouldn’t be giving a badge let alone a gun and power. Someone is going to get hurt those mustangs will probably end up in someones living room.
It’ll likely be all the Mustangs. Freakin’ New Yorkers!
I wonder how many of these were seized from owners, rather than purchased with taxpayer dollars.
I think that’s more of a local/county thing than state cop thing. I suspect NY State Troopers would run new cars outfitted for the job.
That said, I don’t believe the old mustangs they had back in the day were equipped to make arrests (can’t put a partition to the rear seats when there’s no back doors), so they’d certainly be easier to outfit than the standard cruisers.
0
“Yo – Mr. State Trooper – you can’t see the road with your hat pulled down over your eyes!”
So would these be clout chaser chasers?
Old Man Yells at Clout
–me
I was delighted to see a statement from the a public information officer (Beau Duffy, New York State Police) without a bunch of errant apostrophes…until he immediately blew it in paragraph two of his statement.
Lol. Lmao, even. This is going to turn into a leaving Cars and Coffee type situation quickly. The average doofus can’t handle a Mustang GT and the majority of cops are looking up at the average doofus when it comes to judgment and street smarts. I mean these are the same people that do shit like empty entire clips into their own cruisers because of an acorn falling.
There’s no rational reason for this, it’s just burning taxpayer dollars on peacocking…although I guess that’s what the majority of American police work is anyway if we really want to boil it down. But when you have infinite money, zero accountability, and a job description that’s every dude whose peak was covering kicks and punts on their high school football team’s wet dream, this is what you’re gonna get.
Anyway, as many of you know I spend a fair amount of time in rural VA and the sheriff’s department of one of the towns out there I frequently go through just bought some massive urban assault vehicle they’ve proudly parked next to the main road for all to see. They definitely won’t need it in Northumberland County, but I assume it’ll be in DC for January 6 2: Incel Boogaloo the next time a Dem is elected president…
What, you don’t think the state trooper doesn’t deserve to roll in a LAV6 instead?
*mags not clips* unless the po po started using C96’s or something and now I’ll see myself out haha
Steyr Hahn 1912, for hipsters. Or they use RSC 1917 patrol rifles
Rolling with standard-carry Garands, for the morale boost.
… ping!
This is a great use of the Boogaloo format.
They park empty cruisers as a warning at the beginning of towns in The Keys as well.
This is one of the best posts I’ve ever seen on Autopian. I only regret that it’s too inflammatory to make COTD.
I’m dying at the January 6 2: Incel Boogaloo comment. LMAO, this is one of your best yet. Definitely COTD.
Ever watch Wheres981 on YouTube? That guy embarrassed many a police officer in the NY area with not only a lead foot and a hi-po engine, but dude can swim through traffic making it look effortless and beautiful.
I think they should be buying Altimas instead… We already know they’re the fastest thing on the road, and no amount of body damage keeps them from running. Plus being able to use 4 spare tires is both cheaper to replace and more fuel efficient.
spidermandoublememe.jpg
Round about 2006 or so, I’d had a bad morning trying to get out to the door for my brief highway commute to work. My trusty German dadmobile — 2003 Passat wagon – absolutely LOVED to get the turbo spooling on a long, upward sweeping on-ramp onto I-91 south in CT…and that morning I was over 80 mph by the time I merged (n kiddos in the back seat to be sure). I gently wove through traffic, always using my turn signal as it was a VW, not a BMW. In my rear-view mirror, I noticed an out-of-production Camaro matching me through the traffic, turn signals and all. I figured I had a highway buddy with a flashy car who would attract any heat that came our way as scooted along in the dadmobile.
I did NOT expect to see my buddy just LIGHT ME UP and I got pulled over by the last gen-four Camaro in the Connecticut State Trooper fleet.
I got an expensive ticket, but at least the trooper was laughing the whole time and complimented my use of the turn signal with all of my less-than-prudent lane changes.
We all know by now that Explorers without roof racks and Chargers with push bars mean business. Now we’re going to have to add Mustangs to that list, and I’m not sure I can manage.
There’s a ramp merging onto 195 westbound in Providence that has this nice crest. I loved winding up my T5 V70 in third up that (short) ramp.
I know that ramp, haha.
I mean, you’re merging onto 4 lanes of MA drivers blasting into RI, so you HAVE to be moving as you crest the top of it…right? Right? RIGHT?
Right until you have to jack up on the brakes because of traffic, haha.
The less said about the Washington Bridge debacle, the better. Were you in RI during the time of the old S-curve split between 95/195?
Yes! I remember that from my early driving days. I got death wobble for the first time in my freshly lifted ZJ Grand Cherokee while going through the S curve, it was terrifying. The lift came off the next weekend.
Wait, you have a ZJ? Are you still in RI?
I’m in RI, but I sold the ZJ back in 2012.
oh, man, too bad. I was looking for a wrenching buddy.
I’d love to make a trail rig out of one, but all the ones I see on marketplace are in such rough shape. Mine was in rough shape in 2012. It ran great, but the rust…
Do you have one? I assumed you had a TJ by your username.
Hah, nope. TJ is for Timothy Jr. I actually have a five-speed ZJ that David wrote about at the start of COVID and I got hooked.
I’ve since driven it all over the place, including out west and deep into Death Valley, and had it rescued by Casey’s Off Road Recovery in Hurricane UT.
If you ever need space to work on anything, let me know. I’ve got a shop with a two-post life in Pawtucket.
Nice! You might just be my new best friend, haha. I only have street parking, so wrenching is challenging.
I’ll check out that video, I used to watch a lot of Casey’s videos, then they got buried in the algorithm for some reason and I lost track.
I really do miss my ZJ, it was such a nice size – roomy on the inside, but relatively small on the outside. IMO better overall than a XJ.
I was never a 4 wheel drive guy, I grew up in Upstate New York driving GM B-Body Chevy and Pontiacs in the snow with no snow tires, so I never really saw the need.
Then came my ZJ (“Zeke”) and all the wonderful places far, far out into the wilderness it could take me, and I was hooked. It doesn’t hurt that I can also drive on the beaches here in RI off-season…
Street parking is the worst for wrenching…once you have a lift you can NEVER go back. A lift with heat and a bathroom and outside parking…
If they want you to chase them, don’t chase them. Use detective work to figure out the clown or come up with a trap. Chases frequently lead to innocent deaths.
Who’s gonna tell them they can chase these guys down over social media
“the Richland County Sheriff’s Department in South Carolina bought 17 Mustang GTs”
I had to look this up. This is a county of half a million people and the largest city is Columbia. Parts of 3 Interstate highways run through the county, I-77, I-20, and a sliver of I-26.
I have to assume that the County owns more than a few other law enforcement vehicles. Seventeen Mustangs seems like an awful lot.
At least 15 years ago, people down there had lead feet. Too much sweet tea, I guess. Lots of rolling junk there too. Those Mustangs will get used quickly getting to accidents where the driver tried something the car couldn’t do anymore.
Anyone else loving the cop livery on these? Among the best looking mustangs I’ve seen.
Iconic silver always looks good! My local highway patrol uses Iconic Silver/Matte Black F150’s and they look amazing.
It really seems like banning police pursuits would basically solve the influencer problem. If their “content” consists of police chases, then no chases = no content.
Unfortunately, that’s not enough. Plenty of these jagoffs are doing it just for the speedometer shot.
So, figure out who they are. They have all the tools, they can do some police work.
What, BORING policework? At a DESK? Using a telephone and a computer?!?! Make those kinda suggestions, and they’ll be putting in requesitions for fainting couches as well.
Pretty sure I saw one of these dipshits on my commute home yesterday. Widebody Charger with what looked like a 3 foot long camera mount attached to the decklid facing rear traffic.
Driving like a tool of course.
The truth is, even a Mount Prospect P-1 car from 1974 couldn’t keep up with a modern family sedan. The Crown Vics were outmoded long before they were discontinued. And the current Exploders handle like a lap full of ice cubes.
What do the Durango’s and Tahoe’s handle like by comparison?
You leave the Tahoe’s handle out of this.
I have to credit that one to Bill Stephens.
To those unfamiliar with the Taconic, a high speed chase along most of the length of this highway is basically a coinflip on whether or not someone is going to die. It’s narrow, much of it has no shoulders, trees line it very closely, and the terrain is constantly changing. Not to mention tiny on-ramps, weird random spots where there’s like, an actual intersection, and drainage grates sunken into pavement within the travel lane.
The irony here of course, is baiting the police to chase is apparently the entire reason for the chase. So if you don’t chase… there’s no chase? This is the equivalent of clicking on the Twitter profile of that doofus with the Tesla from yesterday.
There is a large police presence to deter speeders, but to your point, there many sections that feel extremely fast at the posted speed limit. I’m not on it enough to be familiar with it, but it’s not a laid back drive (which is unfortunate because it’s pretty).
Its a super cool road on a Sunday morning in October.
TIL you can make a career of running from cops and youtube will happily split the ad revenue with you. Cool.
Yeah that’s obviously an issue here.
Even with all the improvements on the Taconic over the years, it is still a road where driving the speed limit is sometimes too fast for road conditions on a clear day.
There used to be a bridge southbound a few miles up from where it joins the Sprain that you could catch air at speed limit +5. They rebuilt it ~30 years ago to be less fun.
I swear most residential streets in the midwest are wider, straighter and flatter than the Taconic.
I havent spent a ton of time on the Taconic, but I used to do a drive from the Lehigh Valley to NH every other weekend that involved the Saw Mill. On Friday afternoons. Which is basically the Taconic, but with lights!
Pretty sure the Mustang Mach E is a far better option for:
Sitting still for long periods in below-zero conditions: not better.
Wait for the EREV version.
In the cold my Polestar 3 uses about 3kWh/hr (i.e. 3kW) to keep me warm. It seems easy enough to budget for.
They will need to budget in the loss on range from the cold too. Not that the Mach E is notoriously bad.
Gee, thanks Afroduck
I deeply appreciate the lede image.
It clearly shows the highway patrol officer doing what he does best. Taking his post-donut nap.