Despite crash, cops prefer Fords

‘The consensus of the FOP is we still like the Fords,’ one patrol officer said.

By ED RUNYAN

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

AUSTINTOWN — Most officers within the Austintown Police Department, along with Chief Bob Gavalier, are still sold on the Ford Crown Victoria as their police car of choice, despite the crash and fire in November involving that model that critically injured township police officer Ross Linert.

The department recently took delivery on three more of the Fords and put two of them into service last week, Gavalier said.

Linert’s 2005 cruiser was struck from behind by a vehicle traveling about 90 mph Nov. 11, causing its gas tank to explode. The resulting fire burned 40 percent of Linert’s body. He continues to recuperate at home.

Gavalier said members of Lodge 126 of the Fraternal Order of Police, which represents Austintown police officers, agreed with his assessment that the Fords were still the preferred vehicle.

“The consensus of the FOP is we still like the Fords,” said Lt. Emil Grahovac, a patrol supervisor and union member who spends most of his work day in a Ford police cruiser.

In fact, Grahovac said he believes there’s a good chance Linert would have been killed if the same accident had occurred in the smaller Chevrolet Impala police cruiser that some departments use.

Grahovac and township Trustee Lisa Oles agreed that officers have favored the Fords in recent years over the Impalas because the Ford has more room. Impalas made up most of Austintown’s fleet two to three years ago. Now all of the cars are Fords except one Dodge Charger.

Oles noted that officers have told her that having more room helps officers draw their service weapons more easily and provides more room for laptop computers for individuals placed in the back seat.

Gavalier said the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has been to Austintown to study Linert’s cruiser. It has pledged to report in about five weeks on what caused Linert’s gas tank to explode.

If that evaluation points to a problem with the vehicle, Gavalier said he would have to consider using other types of vehicles.

At least 30 police officers in the U.S. have burned to death in the cars over the years, and hundreds of civilians have died in Crown Victorias and other similar Ford vehicles, according to the Center for Auto Safety in Washington, D.C.

Since Linert’s accident, the department has installed $210 tool boxes in the trunk of the department’s cruisers and $395 fire-suppression panels over the gas tanks of all of its cruisers.

The tool boxes prevent tools inside the trunk from puncturing the car’s gas tank. The suppression panels prevent fires from starting in the event of a crash, Gavalier said.

runyan@vindy.com