Congratulations to all the winners of Blue Line’s 2024 Best Dressed Vehicle Awards, sponsored by Setina. The awards showcase innovative, sustainable and effective designs. We look for clear identification, graphic designs that enhance visibility, elements that show the directionality of travel and effective integration of equipment and controls. “Green” vehicles are also taken into consideration.

Thank you to all agencies who submitted their vehicles. Stay tuned to blueline.ca for our 2025 call for submissions later this year.

Photo: David Ainsworth Photography

1^st Place

Timmins Police Service

2021 Dodge Durango – RWD

To mark over 100 years of dedicated service to their community, the Timmins Police Service (TPS) tasked a committee with creating a new image for all cruisers going forward. The committee, composed of Sgt. Marty Delich, Cst. Michael Davidson, Cst. Luc Lamarche and Cst. Tom Buczkowski readily accepted this public image mission and gave hours of their time to designing and debating many options.

The team knew they needed to create a design that was progressive and marked a departure from existing concepts. The lettering on the vehicle needed to be simple yet bold; it needed to stand out while providing a visible contrast to the vehicle’s base colour. In total, the committee looked at over 1,000 design concepts and consulted with TPS members as well as people within the community.

Cst. Davidson, a local artist in Timmins, was called upon due to his artistic talent with free-hand drawing and scaled graphic design. When he learned of its first-place win, Cst. Davidson said the vehicle redesign remains one of the highlights of his entire career.

Cst. Buczkowski (ret.) is proud every time he sees a cruiser on patrol, knowing that he had something to do with the distinguished finished product.

“The opinion formed by the public about policing in general, as well as its local police service, is quite often the result of the images they take in daily. We knew it was important to reflect the rich mining history unique to Timmins on our ‘workhorse’ and in our crest, to show our community who we serve,” said Cst. Lamarche.

For contest judge Dave Brown, the vehicle stood out as a clear winner. “This vehicle features a unique design, with a lot of directionality. There is a clear, readable font choice and a gradient feature that doesn’t take away from the visibility.”

In accepting this year’s Best Dressed award, Marc Depatie, Corporate Communications Coordinator, added, “We are proud and yet humbled at the same time, as the men and women of the Timmins Police Service graciously accept this award. We are thankful to Blue Line for the choice that the judges have made regarding our cruiser as best dressed for 2024. To quote Clint Eastwood ‘You’ve made our day’.”

Photo: Police Essipit

2^nd Place

Police Essipit

Ford F150 Police Responder – 4WD

When starting the redesign process for their vehicles, Police Essipit debated for a long time about what they wanted to showcase. The goal was a modern and visible design with a yellow colour to match their police emblem. “The featured logo is the symbol of the Essipit First Nation Innus Council. ‘Essipit’ means ‘river with shells’, and we believe it’s one of the most beautiful places on the North coast of Quebec,” said Director Dave Launière, who created the design alongside patrol officers who would utilize the vehicles. Police Essipit is a small organization of only seven police officers, and it was important for everyone to have a voice throughout the planning stages.

The design evolved to prioritize visibility, recognition and pride. This included the selection of bold, high-contrast colours for increased safety and quick identification while representing the service’s identity of fostering recognition, trust and a sense of cultural pride within the law enforcement community.

“Police Essipit, like Timmins Police, has a very directional design, with a great use of the font. It is very clear that this is a police vehicle, and people know where to turn to when they need to,” said Dave Brown.

When Director Launière learned of Police Essipit’s second-place win in this year’s Best Dressed contest, he was initially very surprised because he recognized that there are many “stunning police vehicles” in Canada. “There are 22 Indigenous Police organizations in Quebec, and we all have distinct designs for our vehicles. Being recognized in this way means so much to us, and we are thrilled to share our pride in working for the Essipit community with the Canadian law enforcement community.”

Photo: Sarnia Police Service

3^rd Place

Sarnia Police Service

2022 Chevy Tahoe – 4WD

The Sarnia Police Service (SPS) has been on a mission to modernize its fleet. With the introduction of new vehicles, equipment and technologies, a corresponding new visual design was needed.

In May of 2022, the Sarnia Police Service appointed Derek Davis to be their new Chief of Police. As part of initial information gathering from the community and SPS members, it became apparent that the fleet needed immediate attention. The members needed modern technologies and wanted a cutting-edge vehicle design that they could be proud of.

Through a collaborative effort between the SPS senior leadership team and the uniform and equipment committee, SPS developed a design that they saw as a visual representation of the new direction of their service.

During the design process, the team agreed that the red and blue striping on a black vehicle had been done before, and something new needed to be created while remaining professional.

“There is a quote attributed to Vincent van Gogh that says, ‘How difficult is it to be simple?’, and that was very true with our design process. The result is an elegant yet simple design that reflects our organization and professionally represents the community we serve,” said Jason Dale, Manager of Planning, Policy, Fleet and Facilities.

A challenge that SPS has faced in the past was the non-uniformity in manufacturer paint colours. By transitioning to a black vehicle, SPS ensures that all vehicles will look uniform and professional. The design has also been tested out on different types of vehicles, from cars and SUVs to pickup trucks and non-patrol vehicles.

SPS was very pleased to receive this national recognition, as a medium-sized police service up against larger police services with more resources. “This award is even more significant given that the design was created by and for our frontline officers,” said Chief Davis.

COMMUNITY RELATIONS

Photo: Gesgapegiag Police Department

1^st PLACE

Gesgapegiag Police Department

2022 Jeep Gladiator Overland – 4WD

When creating a new design for their community relations vehicle, the Gesgapegiag Police Department (GPD) recognized the importance of continuing their work towards a safer community, while also putting focus on two significant topics: Every Child Matters and the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG). Members of the GPD consistently aim to better their community through youth activities and education initiatives, and this vehicle design reminds them why they work so hard.

“Ultimately, this vehicle was designed to strengthen the ties between our department and the community of Gesgapegiag,” said Director Marven Condo, chief of police.

Director Condo and the police officers of the department considered examples from police services throughout the country and brainstormed ideas as a foundational premise before settling on a final design. The materials used in the design were created and installed by a local shop in the community. Director Condo also emphasized the importance of the patterns on the vehicle, as they are representative of the Mi’gmaq culture. “This is something we celebrate, not only as a police department but as an Indigenous community.”

“I like that this is different from the regular patrol vehicle. This is an international message of hope, and the colours are consistent with the universality of that message,” said Dave Brown.

The Gesgapegiag Police Department was “excited and grateful” to have won first place in this category. “It means a lot for the department. To us, it really goes to show that even a smaller department like ours can make large ripples in the policing domain.”

Photo: Peel Regional Police

2^nd PLACE

Peel Regional Police

2014 Dodge Caravan – FWD

Peel Regional Police’s (PRP) latest Community Relations vehicle was designed to attract potential recruitment candidates. The campaign was launched in 2021, during a period marked by global challenges, social justice protests, and heightened scrutiny of law enforcement agencies. In response, PRP took a positive approach and extended an invitation to potential recruits to join the evolving landscape of policing.

“Sharing our design in this year’s contest allowed us to showcase our ability to successfully navigate the challenges that often accompany creative projects. We also wanted to highlight the enduring impact of our design, emphasizing the positive relationship between the police and the community,” said Recruiting Inspector Andrew Cooper.

The PRP Recruiting and Creative Service team collaborated on the design to bring it to fruition. The team was “thrilled” upon receiving the news of their second-place win. To Nadine Fletcher, Acting Manager of Corporate Communications at PRP and supervisor of the design project, it was a “moment of celebration and affirmation of our commitment to excellence”.

This vehicle was designed to foster a deeper connection with the community by presenting a relatable and humanized image of PRP officers. The call to action, “#BeTheChange”, encourages individuals to consider a career with the service and sends a clear message that PRP is actively seeking recruits who want to be a part of the cultural shift in policing. The door sections can also easily be updated with new faces, which ensures the longevity of the vehicle wrap.

“I found this submission to be quite appealing. It features both thoughtful messaging and a nice graphical design,” said Rylan Simpson.

“I am proud of our team’s best-dressed vehicle award. This award highlights Peel Regional Police as best-in-class innovators in this sector and the design’s core focus exemplifies our visionary goal of being the most progressive, innovative and inclusive police service,” said Chief Nishan Duraiappah.

Thank you to Blue Line’s Best Dressed Police Vehicle judges, for their expertise and dedication to this content.

For this year’s contest, please note that Rylan Simpson recused himself from judging the Best Dressed frontline patrol category, as he had a conflict of interest with one of the entrants. You can find an article on his recent research on police vehicles on page 22.

Dave Brown is a Blue Line contributor on firearms and police vehicles, as well as a Best Dressed Police Vehicle Awards judge. He is a tactical firearms trainer and consultant based in Winnipeg. He can be reached at dave@bulletproofset.ca.

Rylan Simpson, Ph.D. is an assistant professor in the School of Criminology at Simon Fraser University. He is an expert in police perception research and has studied the effects of police vehicle aesthetics on public perceptions of police.