At $1 Each, Police Cars With Corporate Logos Are A Deal For Florida Town

At $1 Each, Police Cars With Corporate Logos Are A Deal For Florida Town
Catharine Skipp, The Washington Post

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If you saw a car in your rearview mirror with flashing lights and a McDonald's logo on the hood, would you pull over?

In these days of budget-cutting and creative financing, a Florida Panhandle town commission has voted to purchase 15 police cruisers for only $ 15 -- resplendent with corporate sponsors.

The mayor of Springfield, a suburb of Panama City with 9,000 residents, estimates his town will save $ 500,000 over the three years it takes for delivery of the new cruisers, half the Police Department's annual budget.

"Roughly, we are talking about $ 1 million in cars and equipment that is going to be freed up to do other things. We could hire more police officers; the Fire Department needs another truck," Mayor Robert Walker said.

"We had some concerns over the sponsors," he said. "We don't want to do anything that would make our city a laughingstock. We have pretty much final say on the designs; it can't be anything with alcohol, tobacco or gambling. It is going to be a recognizable police car."
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