Monday, September 21, 2015
Staff report
WARREN
When it comes to police cars, the image most departments expect is solid, predictable and uniform.
Looking across a parking lot of police cars typically is like looking across a neighborhood full of identical condominiums.
But one Warren police officer felt it was worthwhile to break with tradition and promote the Warren City Schools through the paint job on one of the cruisers.
Patrolman Chris Martin said he wanted the cruiser to have images reflective of Warren G. Harding High School and its mascot, the Raider.
To be collaborative, he enlisted the help of students at the high school who take classes in photography and graphic arts by asking them last spring to create some designs.
A few months later, the best parts of the designs were combined, resulting in a traditional Harding Raider and the words “Raider Nation” on the sides and an Indian war bonnet on the roof.
The back of the car makes it more clear why the car has been adorned that way: It says “school resource officer.”
The car was unveiled at a Harding football game several weeks ago.
“So far, just about every one of the students we’ve talked to loved it,” Martin said.
Martin was inspired to do something in Warren after seeing another community’s patrol car that had a thin, black-and-orange tiger stripe on it.
“I said, ‘That looks good, but go big or go home,’” Martin said with a big laugh.
RL Smith Graphics of Boardman took the Warren designs and tweaked them to produce the finished product.
And so nobody could criticize the cost, the school resource officers pitched in to cover much of it. The rest came from donations, especially the Rotary Club of Warren.
The car is used primarily at the schools, but as it travels around the city, it sometimes gets some curious looks from other motorists, Martin said.
The typical response is a “thumbs-up,” he said.