RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia State Police has added nine new Ford Mustang GT models to its fleet, giving troopers both enhanced enforcement capabilities and a fresh new look on the roads.
The high-performance vehicles have been distributed across all seven divisions throughout the state as part of a pilot program to evaluate their effectiveness in law enforcement operations.
"We have them going to each one of our seven divisions all around the state," Matt Demlein with State Police said.
The department carefully selected qualified personnel to operate the powerful vehicles, focusing on those with appropriate experience.
"We chose folks who have experience who understand how to handle vehicles well," Demlein said.
Troopers assigned to the Mustangs underwent several weeks of specialized training at the department's Blackstone complex to ensure they could safely handle the performance capabilities.
Despite their impressive appearance, the department actually secured the vehicles at a discount. The Mustangs cost several hundred dollars less than the Ford Explorer models that make up the majority of the state police fleet.
"We're going to assess how this works having the mustangs on the field and as we look at all the factors, maybe decide how to go with future purchases," Demlein said.
While the Mustangs won't be as commonly seen as other patrol vehicles, they serve a dual purpose beyond law enforcement: helping attract new recruits to the force.
"It does help with recruitment and recruitment is a huge deal here. We are doing a lot of efforts to get more state troopers here and this is just one of them," Demlein said.
The department is preparing to graduate 32 new troopers and recently welcomed nearly 90 recruits in its newest class.
"We have our largest recruitment class that just came in in June. This is our largest recruiting class since 2018," Demlein said. "So this is big for helping us get troopers in and to help us provide the safety that Virginia deserves."
Virginia State Police joins departments in North Carolina, South Carolina and Kentucky that have also added newer Mustang models to their fleets. Locally, Powhatan County has also recently acquired a Mustang for its police department.
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