NEWPORT NEWS
Calling it "young" and "hip," judges in a contest for Law and Order magazine singled out the Newport News police recruiting vehicle for a design award.
The car won first place in a category for best support vehicle, command post or crime scene investigation vehicle, the magazine said Thursday.
"It's got 'bling,' " the judges wrote. "This vehicle will get the job done."
A photo by crime-scene technician Kelly Wells on the back of the car shows officers in various divisions of the Newport News police.
The department got the 2008 Dodge Magnum last year. It gets attention at job fairs, said Detective Jason Diedrich, who came up with the design for the car.
"I actually love driving it down the road because you always get the double-takes," he said. "In May, I drove it to Baltimore, Md., for a career fair there. We're going down Interstate 95 in Northern Virginia, Washington, D.C., and people are pulling up giving thumbs-up, looking at the car. It really is sharp-looking going down the road."
Second place in the category went to a police car from the department in Iowa, La.
The annual contest began more than 20 years ago, according to a news release from Deerfield, Ill.-based Hendon Publishing, the publisher of Law and Order.
Patrick Wilson, (757) 446-2957, patrick.wilson@pilotonline.com
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Bling Bling
Well, this story has gone national (www.fark.com).
For the purposes of this story, it's delectably ironic that Newport News has a crime rate on par with Baltimore and Detroit; both cities vying to be champions of how many homicides they can open up their Six O'Clock P.M. news reports with.
Cool car - what it really needs to be even more tragically hip is a big, no, GIANT "757" featured somewhere onboard for all the bling-urbanites to see.
It is
It is indeed a Dodge Magnum....Brand new car....
If the car pictured is the
If the car pictured is the car that won the award... it is not a 2008 Magnum. It's an older model. The dead give away is the headlights.
Still if it's used for real police work. Kudos to the police force for using a great car like the Magnum.
Ummm
I'm surprised the cop didn't pull people over for giving them the 'thumbs-up'. He probably had his thumb up...
But I agree with the first poster. What a waste of money! Use a regular police car and be done with it. Are we trying to imply at these job fairs that you'll be able to drive that car when you join the force? Bring a actual car and save the $50,000 or so it took to buy and equip that vehicle.
Nice looking car..
Foolish waste of city tax payers money.
Martial Law
Newport News would be better off if martial law was established there...that would take a bite out of crime!