RUMFORD — The Rumford Police Department’s newest vehicle is a 2011 Dodge Charger, which was put into service Tuesday.

“We are very impressed with the car,” Chief Stacy Carter said. He was the first member of the department to drive it.

“This is the first Charger we’ve had,” he said. It features a V-6 engine and rear-wheel drive.

“The Oxford County Sheriff’s Office has them in their fleet and they have been very pleased with them, and that was a major reason why we chose this model,” Carter said.

The department has previously relied on Ford Crown Victorias.

“This is the first year that Ford is not making the Crown Victoria,” Carter said. It’s making a new model, “the Interceptor, which is a front-wheel drive car on a Taurus frame.”

“Our officers train on rear-wheel vehicles and we feel this was a better fit for the department,” Carter said.

The Charger replaces a four-year-old Crown Victoria with 115,000 miles on it, he said.

“We typically retire our cars at around 115,000 miles,” Carter said. These police cars get a lot of wear and tear and the odometer reading is not a fair indicator of their usage since the cars are idled a lot.

“We traded in the Crown Victoria  when we purchased the Charger,” he said.

The Mexico Police Department is considering following Rumford Police Department’s example for their next cruiser.

“I really like the Charger,” Chief James Theriault said. “We’re probably going to request the town to purchase one as our next cruiser.”

“The Charger has plenty of power,” Theriault said, “It is more comfortable for officers over long details and gets better gas mileage than the Crown Victoria.”

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