Are Black and White Police patrol cars in your future?
Several organizations responded to a survey the Public Fleet Managers
Association conducted in Dec 2012. The PFMA president is Fred Chun,
Fleet manager for the city of Tacoma WA.
Our question to fleet managers was; “Is it more cost effective to paint a patrol car black and white or to have the patrol car come in painted black and to wrap the doors and top with a white vinyl ”.
Fleet managers were concerned with using a vinyl wrap as compared to painting. Some of their question were:
1- What is the additional cost to have the car doors and roof painted white?
2- Would resale value of a patrol car be decreased if it was to be sold with the doors and roof painted white?
3- Do we want cars with a black and white old patrol car scheme driven by private citizens?
4- What would the vinyl cost to cover the doors/roof?
5- How well would the vinyl wear over the years and how much would it cost to have it repaired because of scratches or damage from an accident.
6- How will the vinyl last on patrol cars being kept in service for longer periods of time?
7- If we keep retired police black and white patrol car for use by other departments, what does it cost to have the car repainted or to have the vinyl removed.
Several agencies have looked at this and in most cases the decisions to run black and white patrol cars were not entirely based on cost. Citizen’s perceived that their neighborhoods were being patrolled twice as much because they noticed the black and white patrol cars more frequently than patrol cars that were painted a solid color.
The primary reason organizations are considering black and white patrol cars is visibility. The black and white patrol car brings a commonality to

police car identification. The black and white scheme began in the 1950’s, in order to differentiate patrol cars from non-police vehicles. The most common black and white scheme for a patrol car is black front (fenders and hood) and black rear of car (trunk and rear panel’s) with both doors and roof painted or wrapped white. Because of cost in the 1970’s police cars migrated to a solid color. Then in the late 1990’s police departments began to go back to the more traditional black and white patrol car.
One of the issues that came up during the discussion was the concern that since patrol cars are being retained longer, if vinyl was used, it would fade over time and any nicks or tears would be more expensive to repair then to just touch up a painted car with paint.
Agencies that order black patrol cars and wrap the doors and roof with a white vinyl report that this provided a cost savings, as they do not have to pay to remove the white vinyl or to repaint the doors and roof, when the car is sold. It would take approximately 3 hours to remove vinyl from both doors and the roof. The cost, if done in your shop is approximately 3 hours x your shop rate. If hired out it would be between $200 and $400 dollars per patrol car.
As we see more and more agencies going to a black and white patrol car,
Ford, Chevrolet and Chrysler are relooking at how they can provide this option at a more cost competitive price. Currently Ford offers a vinyl wrap.
To have your new Ford patrol car wrapped, at the factory, both doors both sides and the roof would cost $729 dollars. It would be less expensive if your design calls to have only one door, both sides wrapped and whether or not you have the roof wrapped or not.
Some agencies have elected not to change to the traditional black and white vehicles since patrol vehicles can easily be used for a few more years by other department with only a small cost to remove the police decals and install decals for another department.
If a police patrol car is ordered black and then painted locally it costs, depending on where you are in the US and the quality of paint used,

between $400 and $1459 dollar. This also depends on whether or not you are painting both doors and the roof or just the front doors or any combination of both doors and the roof.
To paint the doors and roof black before a patrol car is sold will cost between the $400 and $1459 dollars as indicated above.
Do you receive less money, at auction, for a black and white painted patrol car then selling a solid colored car? I have checked with several public auto auctions who have indicated that while the selling of black and white retired patrol cars is new, they are estimating that the cost will be affected only slightly. They are estimating a reduction in the resale price to be less than
5%. We are seeing used patrol cars being sold for between $1600 and
$3000 dollars depending on condition, mileage and age. If we are losing up to 5% on the resale, we would see a reduction in our resale price of between $80 and $150 dollars per patrol car.
In summary to the question above;
1- What is the additional cost to have the cars doors and roof painted white?
Answer: $400 - $1459.
2- Would resale value of a patrol car be decreased if it was sold with the doors and roof painted white?
Answer: Yes, less than 5%
3- Do we want retired police black and white cars driven by private citizens?
Answer: No. while some agencies are selling their patrol cars still painted black and white, over all, most agencies do not sell their patrol cars still painted in the traditional police black and white colors.
4- What would the vinyl cost to cover the doors/roof?
Answer: Factory installed vinyl on all four doors and roof is $729.

5- How will the vinyl wear over the years and how much would it cost to have it repaired because of scratches or damage from an accident.
Answer: Vinyl will fade over time as will paint and the damages from an accident will require the same amount of repair as paint. Depending on the damage, the cost to repair decals and a wrap will depend on the severity of the damage. Agencies are learning how to repair vinyl at a cost equal to touching up paint.
6- How will the vinyl last with patrol cars being kept in service for longer periods of time?
Answer: The fact that we are keeping patrol cars in service for longer periods of time, should not have a major impact on your decals or the door and roof wraps, unless you are having a problem now. The quality of decals/wraps has improved over the years. Depending on what part of the country you are in, your decals and wraps can be affected. If your decals are having to be replaced because of fading now, the wraps will require the same maintenance. However, all decals should last with minimal fading from between 5-10 years, again this depends on if the car is being operated in severe heat, sun or severe cold. The bottom line is that if you are having problems with your paint or decals now, you will continue to have a problem.
7- If you retain retired black and white patrol cars for use by other departments, what does it cost to have the car repainted or to have the vinyl wrap removed.
Answer: To repaint a patrol car that is being retained by another inner departmental agency or to send it to auction will cost between $400 and
$1459. To remove a door and roof wrap (depending on how long it has been on the vehicle) will cost approximately up to 3 labor hours to remove, between $80 and $150 dollars per car.
In summary, black and white patrol cars provide a more visible police presence. The decision to operate black and white patrol cars is not based entirely on economics, nor do you have to paint all of your cars at one time.

You can change over to black and white patrol cars (if that is the direction you are going) starting with newly purchased cars and over a number of years, all of your cars will be black and white. You gain in the image projected by the traditional black and white patrol car. I am not personally for one or the other, but I must admit, the black and whites do represent the image of what I think a police car should look like, or am I just dating myself.
Bill DeRousse, deroussefleet@aol.com