Police cars need to be very versatile, as cops need to do a wide range of tasks with their car. In some places, the police have bought luxury sports cars to catch high-speed criminals, but most cop cars are pretty ordinary. That said, they aren’t the same as regular cars, and they were missing a few standard features, too.

How cop cars are different from regular cars

As MotorTrend wrote, cop cars are built differently from regular cars because the automaker is making those cop cars specifically for a single demographic. Standard cars generally have to be marketed to everyone, as almost anyone can get a car nowadays. However, cop cars are usually only purchasable by cops, and as a result, the automaker only has to think about what cops want in their vehicle. 

That said, even though automakers are focusing on what cops need, it’s not an easy job as cops are asking for a lot in their cars. The car needs to be powerful enough to pursue anyone trying to escape the law. Still, at the same time, there are also many different factors that the automaker has to take into consideration. 

For example, cops are generally going to be sitting with a belt full of equipment when they’re in a car, and some car seats don’t make that very comfortable. That’s why MotorTrend said that the latest cop cars have special seats that make cops more comfortable when they’re sitting in their car. 

Many new features

Dodge makes cop cars, and that’s exactly what the Pursuit trim of its cars are geared toward here. For the latest model year of the Charger Pursuit and the Durango Pursuit, Dodge has added many new features to make their cars suitable for police work. 

MotorTrend said that these cars were designed and built with help from the Police Advisory Board and actual cops themselves. Like those special police seats, these Dodge Pursuits have many features that cops are looking for in their vehicle. For example, cop cars typically have an onboard computer, and in smaller cars, that computer can make things cramped. Dodge has moved some stuff around in the Durango Pursuit so that the center console has more space available.

Similarly, since cops may want to add some aftermarket gear to their car, Dodge has also increased the Charger Pursuit’s gross vehicle weight rating so that cops can add that gear with relative ease. And of course, both the Charger Pursuit and the Durango Pursuit have improved performance options since cops will need that extra horsepower. 

Some standard features are standard for police now, too

Interestingly, these latest cop cars will also finally have access to tech that’s been standard in their regular versions for a while now. The regular Charger and the regular Durango already have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as standard features. The cop versions of those cars didn’t have those features as standard until now. 

While it’s not clear why the police versions of those cars didn’t have standard features that so many cars already have, it’s not the only example. MotorTrend wrote that the new Durango Pursuit would finally have tri-zone automatic climate control. However, that is already a standard feature on the regular Durango. 

There are far more standard features in the 2021 model years of these cars, as MotorTrend said that, for the Durango Pursuit, in particular, there are over 20 new features. Regardless, these models will begin production in late 2020 and early 2021, according to MotorTrend.