Reader comments
Salt Lake Police fight crime, fuel costs with hybrid cars

Current police cruisers get 10 mpg!? That's what you get for sticking with cruisers made by the big 3.

Why are we trying to save the U.S. Auto makers with tax money and then spend our taxes buying foriegn cars .

Way to go Mayor Becker! Instead of hiring an anti-gang specialist - repaint the police cars -that will solve the gang problem on the westside.

The idea that Hybrid cars are better for the environment is totally untrue! They have expensive batteries that contain large quantities of Nickel. This and other elements in the batteries must be mined and refined requiring huge quantites of energy, more so that the fuel savings they get in fact. Plus, the batteries have to be replaced every 3-6 years depending on driving time. How shall we dispose of these batteries? Getting new ones only increases the energy deficeit these cars produce. I have nothing against Hybrids at all, just the miss-information the public has about how "good" they are for the environment! Bottom line: if you are driving a Hybrid, good for you, but you are causing more overall pollution than my Hemi Chysler that gets 18 in town and 23 hwy.

Good choice!!! saving money for gas and paying for people to protect our city.
Why foreign cars? 'Cause they are a lot better, US Carmaker havent help us to change to have more efficient cars, cheap and ugly US cars!!!

It is a lot better to drive a hybrid than A HEMI CHRYSLER, C'mon you need a little more study about the BIG DIFFERENCE between those 2 technologies!!! Batterie issue is one thing NOT THE CAR.
So lets buy those big trucks, spend more money in gas and make our air worsed than ever Utah!!!

Hybrid vehicles could be ideal for police crusiers that spend most of their time on city streets, or parked idling on the side of the road waiting for speeders. The police crusiers probably get better than 20-25 on the highway...but figure in all that time idiling...or in stop and go traffic...and bam...10mpg (I'm surprised it's that good). Hybrids could help a lot here. And as far as the battery issue goes...all old batteries are recycled into new batteries. True it would be really good if there were better ways to store energy, but batteries aren't all the doom and gloom mentioned in an earlier post.

Admitadley though, hybrids are not the answer for those vehicles that spend the majority of their time on the highway. There is pretty much no increase in mpg's for these vehicles. City police crusiers don't fit into that category though.

To "Hybrid Hypocrisy | 1:48 a.m. " shhhh....don't let facts spoil the fun! You also forgot to include the extra cost vs. the fuel that would be used.

waste of money!!! waste of time!!! chevy impalas get around 23-25 mpg and camreys get 33-35 for a ten miles diff. and camreys are 4000-5000 more then the impalas waste of time!!!

Even though Global Warming is a sham of the highest order, I can appreciate what the SLCPD is trying to do and applaud them for giving it a go. Saving money, saving gas...these are certainly not bad things at all, no matter what your stance on the Global Warming myth is.

I should hope everyone who left anti American car comments loose their jobs in this economy. The NEW Ford lineup came with JD Powers HIGHEST quality rating for cars sold in North America!!! Not to mention The Institute for Highway Safety's highest crash test ratings. I love that no one else here can come to the table with real facts. Pauls comment was very true and had a good point. Ford is coming out with a Fusion Hybrid this year for the 2010 model year and they already have an Escape Hybrid made by Americans with American materials. Lets throw American jobs away though just because every loud mouth bought a Camry and wants to shout about it! I bought a Ford! They gave me a discount for being a college student. Toyota wouldn't do one thing for me.