Source The Emporia Gazette
The Emporia Police Department is rolling out a striking redesign for its 13-vehicle fleet, aimed at enhancing visibility and community engagement.
The decision to update the department's vehicle aesthetics came after careful consideration and collaboration within the department, according to Police Chief Ed Owens, as the department's new vehicles become available through a fleet agreement with Enterprise Leasing.
"This year ought to be rather exciting and rather busy," Owens said.
The city first approved the fleet rentals in June 2022. Under the agreement, all city vehicles are delivered to a local dealership in Emporia, and then necessary equipment is installed through an aftermarket vendor for upfitting.
"We decided now would be a good time to change our look," Owens said. "We put it out to the department, and this is the one that we decided to change up while we could get the process done."
EPD worked with Shawn Honea at IM Design for the redesign.
"I was contacted by Detective Kevin Shireman, and he let me know that they were going to get new vehicles," Honea said. "They were wanting me to come up with some creatives for them, so I came up with about six different designs."
The design the department chose for the vehicles includes the EPD badge embellished with royal blue text, and a matching blue line extending behind text that reads "POLICE" in white lettering.
The Emporia Police Department plans to transition from Ford Explorers to Dodge Durangos, so Honea made sure the design would work on all police vehicles. It takes Honea about 15-20 minutes to apply the vinyl to each side of the vehicle.
"The design that we ended on was partially because it was easy to apply," Honea said. "If they get in an accident or something happens, we can easily remove it." He added that he'll have the vinyls on hand so vehicles can be back in shape quickly.
He said he did a lot of research to see what other communities were doing for their vehicles. With technological advances, Honea said the department was no longer limited to just "police" scrawled across the side in white font.
"We can do a lot now with color and it really doesn't cost any more to have it be in color. We want it to stand out really well, but yet it doesn't have to be generic and boring looking," he said.
Owens said he was happy with the final result.
"The graphics are unique and they really stick out," he said. "I don't think anybody will have any problems seeing us coming."
Owens said it was important for the department to work locally with IM Design. He said the decision to shop local not only supported the local economy but also proved to be cost-effective.
"Shawn actually saved us money from our old vendor who was doing them down in Wichita," he said. "It's always good to save a little money on outfitting cars because that's an expensive deal to undertake."
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