FoMoCo has a long, rich history of providing law enforcement agencies in the U.S. with a wide variety of models over the years, whether that be the Crown Victoria, the Ford F-150 based Police Responder, or even the all-electric Ford Mustang Mach-E. However, the Ford Mustang has also long been a favorite among law enforcement for both higher-speed pursuits and community relations purposes, and even though The Blue Oval no longer makes a dedicated version of the pony car for law enforcement, the all-new 2024 Ford Mustang GT is quickly gaining favor among those public servants, regardless.
Sheriff Lott introduced the new Community Action Team Ford Mustangs.
The CAT cars have been around since 1998. The dept. started with Chevy Camaros, then Dodge Magnums, Dodge Challengers, back to Chevy Camaros and now the Ford Mustang.#TeamRCSD #Ford https://t.co/yn1Z2RP1PP pic.twitter.com/TN9d9B0jas— Richland County Sheriff’s Dept. (@RCSD) July 1, 2024
The latest law enforcement agency to add a number of 2024 Ford Mustang GT models to its fleet is the Richland County Sheriff’s Department in South Carolina, which just purchased 17 of those vehicles to serve on its Community Action Team (CAT). The purpose of CAT is to strengthen the relationship between the police department and the local community, which in this case will involve those 2024 Ford Mustang GT models patrolling neighborhoods, with a specialized team of deputies behind the wheel who will look to build those relationships organically. Since its debut in 1998, CAT has utilized Chevy Camaros, Dodge Challengers, and Dodge Magnums, but now that all those vehicles have been discontinued, it’s turning back to the Mustang.
“These cars draw attention,” Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott explained to The State. “These are hot cars. Kids and adults see them and like them, and then come up to the car and start talking to the deputy. That’s done on purpose to attract people to the vehicle, the deputy, (where we tell them) who we are and what we do. That’s what the CAT team does, it keeps that community energized all the time, making sure (community) meetings are going on, even when nothing has happened. The goal is to prevent crime in the first place. So, we wanted to make them a little unique, which is why we have specialized cars for them.”
Richland County is just the latest law enforcement agency to add the 2024 Ford Mustang GT to its fleet, as the North Carolina State Highway Patrol recently purchased 25 examples of the pony car, along with the the Georgia State Patrol and South Carolina Highway Patrol.
We’ll have more on the 2024 Ford Mustang soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for the latest Ford Mustang news and continuous Ford news coverage.
Comment
It sure is a strange coinsidence that all truck builders, including Ford all discontinued the extended cab model in this year. Talk about greed and collaboration. What is up with that? Anybody else find it curious?