Chat with the Chief: Atwater PD talks electric police vehicles

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- In this week's Chat with the Chief, Action News Anchor Vanessa Vasconcelos sat down with Atwater Police Chief Michael Salvador.

Recently, the Atwater Police Department has been adding electric vehicles to its fleet, and the chief says he's been impressed by their performance.

The code enforcement, animal control and administration divisions use the four battery electric pickup trucks.

That means you won't see them out on patrol, but the point is to put the trucks through their paces to see if they could one day be used for more intensive tasks. The chief has made one of the trucks his daily ride, using it to respond to urgent calls.

So far, he says he's been impressed. In the six months of service, they've seen the cost of maintenance and fueling (or powering) the vehicles drop by double-digit percentages.

The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District's public benefit grant program helped fund these first four trucks.

Chief Salvador says he's ready to add additional electric vehicles to his fleet and even wants to try placing one in limited patrol use.

He's already working to install six more chargers to be ready for a more extensive electric fleet in the future.

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