SAPOL today is announcing the trial of four new vehicles for SAPOL's General Duties fleet. Two of the vehicles, the Toyota Camry (Sedan) and Toyota AWD Rav4 (SUV) are a hybrid model with a Volkswagen Tiguan (SUV) also joining the trial.
The vehicles under trial have been identified as being suitable for use as a general duties vehicle, presenting an opportunity to ensure that SAPOL has continuity of supply of vehicles required for its day to day operations. Current general duty vehicles include the Holden Commodore and Kia Sorrento.
The trial vehicles will be fitted out for general duties patrol and released into the field for suitability testing and evaluation across all four metropolitan districts and road policing (North and South).
These vehicles join the Mitsubishi Outlander, which is currently under evaluation with 4 vehicles being trialled at 3 sites since June 2020.
Pending a successful trial, it is anticipated that replacing the current Holden SAPOL vehicles with the four new vehicle models could be complete by 2023/2024.
Minister for Police, the Hon Vincent Tarzia said he looks forward to seeing the outcome of the trial.
"It's absolutely vital that our Police Officers have the tools they need on the frontline. Given the retirement of the Holden brand in Australia, it's imperative an alternative vehicle is identified as soon as possible", Minister Tarzia said.
Launching the trial of the new vehicles, Acting Assistant Commissioner John De Candia said:
"Following the retirement of the Holden brand, SAPOL has identified four new vehicles to trial as part of SAPOL's General Duties fleet. The hybrid model cars also demonstrate SAPOL's commitment to supporting our State's aim to be cleaner and greener".
Acting Assistant Commissioner, De Candia further commented:
"These vehicles have passed a number of performance, safety and other tests to ensure that they meet our standards and we will further test their effectiveness over the upcoming trials and from the feedback we receive from SAPOL staff. We want to ensure that our frontline officers are driving the safest and most appropriate cars to meet the demands of their roles".
SAPOL will continue to monitor any other potential model of vehicle identified as suitable to be assessed for use within SAPOL.
