Police cars are a common sight on the roads, but a Honolulu police car spotted on Hawaii Island had many people turning their heads.
It was fully decked out and driving through Hilo.
KHON2 learned the HPD car is actually one of more than 100 HPD sedans being outfitted there.
The city says Orchid Isle Auto Center won the contract last year to provide HPD with 110 Ford Police Interceptor Patrol sedans and 20 SUVs at cost of $6,470,833.
That’s about $215,000 cheaper than what Oahu auto dealer, Cutter Ford, bid for the job.
HPD says Orchid Isle’s price includes shipping all the vehicles back to Oahu by next month.
They’ll be part of a total of 170 new blue-and-white vehicles for HPD.
The other 40 Interceptor sedans will be provided by Cutter Ford, which this time around was the lowest bidder at a cost of $1,909,188.
The new cars will make up about half of HPD’s patrol car fleet, with a total of $8,379,021 of your taxpayer dollars to pay for them.
So what determines when it’s time to replace a police vehicle? An HPD spokesperson says it depends of several factors including mileage, model year, condition, repair feasibility, and safety.
What happens to the old HPD vehicles? The city says they’re stripped of the police decals and equipment, then sold online by the city’s Purchasing Division.
The money made from the sale goes into the city’s general fund. In the past, bid prices have ranged from $100 to $600 and up.
