Ind. State Police Introduce Retro Design for New Patrol Vehicles

The Indiana State Police unveiled a cruiser design for its 20 recent academy graduates that's a callback to the agency's 1968 vehicles, and the design will gradually be implemented across the fleet.

By Michael Howie

Source The Times, Munster, Ind.

Nov. 14, 2025

2 min read

What to know

Indiana State Police issued 20 new troopers their first patrol vehicles, unveiling a retro design modeled after the 1968 ISP car with a royal blue body, white roof, and gold accents.
Two new troopers at the Lowell Post will begin patrols Thursday in the new-look Dodge Durangos, which will gradually replace the agency’s longtime all-white fleet as older vehicles age out.
ISP leaders say the design honors the agency’s history while modernizing its fleet.

Twenty graduates of the Indiana State Police academy will be going on patrol in new retro-designed cruisers. The design will gradually be rolled out across the fleet in the coming years.

The Indiana State Police on Wednesday issued the 20 graduates of this year’s ISP Recruit Academy their first patrol vehicles, which look a little different than in recent years but are akin to trooper vehicles from days of yore.

Two of those graduates will be working their first shifts at the Lowell Post in Northwest Indiana — and you’ll be able to see the new cars in action Thursday evening as new state troopers Nathan Duesing and Brayden Schrock patrol Interstate 80 and Interstate 65 for their first shifts as probationary officers.

The retro design is a callback to the 1968 state police car, ISP Sgt. Glen Fifield told The Times. It features a royal blue base color with a white roof and gold accents, finished off with the signature ISP logo on each front door.

Since the 1960s, ISP has changed its design several times but has used the all-white car since 2006.

“As these new Troopers begin their service, they carry forward a proud tradition of protecting Hoosiers with integrity and courage,” Indiana Gov. Mike Braun said. “The new patrol vehicles are a fitting way to mark this next chapter — honoring our history while equipping the Indiana State Police for the future.”

It will likely take years until the all-white trooper cars are off the roads, Fifield said. The Lowell Post typically retires vehicles when they reach 180,000 miles, and it doesn’t make financial sense to retire any early just to update the color scheme. Some troopers are still driving 2016 Dodge Chargers, he said.

ISP Superintendent Anthony Scott said he was excited to see the “new look Dodge Durangos begin their service in communities throughout Indiana.”

“While the color scheme is a salute to our past, it is also a bridge to the future of the Indiana State Police, a future that each of these young Troopers will help forge,” he said.

ISP, like many other local and state law enforcement agencies, has used Dodge Durangos, a model that has caused major problems for many agencies across the country, including in Northwest Indiana. In some cases, “catastrophic” engine failure has forced departments to prematurely retire vehicles that had fewer than 15,000 miles to their name.

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