Businesses Band Together To Donate $8 Million Worth Of Vehicles For Detroit
Over 100 emergency vehicles will hit Detroit’s streets in the next few months, including 23 ambulances and more than 100 police cruisiers, thanks to a coalition of private sector donors that pitched in for the vehicles.
The Detroit Free Press reports that companies like Penske, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Quicken Loans, the Kresge Foundation, and Platinum Equity all chipped in to help buy the new vehicles for the city. The Big Three automakers also lent a hand, providing Ford Taurus, Dodge Charger and Chevrolet Caprice police vehicles.
Interestingly, the city will not be the official owners of the vehicles, nor will they be responsible for their maintenance. None other than Roger Penske said that the vehicles would be outfitted with “top of the line” equipment and would be ready for duty in the next few months.
Detroit is now essentially controlled by state-appointed emergency manager Kevyn Orr, after Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder asked him to help step in and manage Detroit’s finances. Orr previously worked on the 2009 Chrysler bankruptcy.
More by Derek Kreindler
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Seems a Detroit post brings out the best in some of our commentators...
I would like to thank those donors for buying all those Caprices thereby helping support the jobs of the Australian factory workers in Adelaide.
Detroit is the only city that uses retired taxi cabs as police cars
Now that the Taurus has returned as the basis for the new Ford Police Interceptor, I finally feel as if the Robocop prophecy has completely come completely true. If you'll all turn to the gospel of Robocop 2, you'll recall the mayor readily engaged in corruption and the city of Detroit went bankrupt. The last of the 4 horsemen!