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Vancouver receives 2015 Best Dressed Vehicle Award

Jan 1, 2015

MARKHAM - Blue Line Magazine is pleased to announce the selections for the 2015 Best Dressed Vehicles Award in five categories.

Vancouver Police Department will receive the top award for Best Dressed Police Vehicle for 2015.

The Vancouver Police vehicle redesign was selected top in category for not only possessing a look and style appropriate to the community and the policing function but also due to the added efforts in the areas of lighting, fuel economy and environmental concerns. This clearly shows the Vancouver Police Department as sensitive to the myriad of first nations communities in its midst but wishing to be a visible mentor to environmental concerns specific to that region.

December 31, 2014  By Corrie Sloot


Jan 1, 2015

MARKHAM – Blue Line Magazine is pleased to announce the selections for the 2015 Best Dressed Vehicles Award in five categories.

Vancouver Police Department will receive the top award for Best Dressed Police Vehicle for 2015.

The Vancouver Police vehicle redesign was selected top in category for not only possessing a look and style appropriate to the community and the policing function but also due to the added efforts in the areas of lighting, fuel economy and environmental concerns. This clearly shows the Vancouver Police Department as sensitive to the myriad of first nations communities in its midst but wishing to be a visible mentor to environmental concerns specific to that region.

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Gatineau Police Service is to receive the Best Dressed Police Vehicle Second Place Award for 2015.

When the Service de Police de la Ville de Gatineau (SPVG) updated its vehicles to the new Ford Police Interceptor, it chose to also update graphics with this very eye-catching design.

The word “police” and the city name of Gatineau are both very prominently placed along the side, important in a region where multiple agencies patrol jurisdictions in close proximity to each other. We were immediately impressed by the design and especially the unique way the white bars break up the blue side stripes that help add to its identity as a police vehicle. The subtle but effective use of gold striping and double drop-shadow in the word POLICE add to that instant recognition.

Officer safety is among Blue Line’s most important judging criteria, and one factor we like to see is directionality to the design. Citizens should be able to tell at a glance which way the vehicle is facing, day or night. During the day, the design looks much like an arrow when all the reflective decaling is lit up at night. It is one of the most effective and modern designs we have seen.


The Saskatoon Police Service will receive the Best Dressed Police Vehicle Third Place Award for 2015. The graphic design of thier vehicles incorporate a lot of directionality in the decaling that is specifically contoured to follow the shape of the new body style of the Ford suburban utility vehicles. It makes effective use of the black front wheel well to form a streamlined teardrop shape; once again allowing citizens to see at a glance the direction of travel in all kinds of weather.

Auxiliary lighting consists of the latest LED technology, including dual white pillar-mounted spotlights and a dual-colour LED light bar. It has a crisp light visible from a greater distance, and the entire front can turn into a full take-down light, producing a clear white floodlight. The rear dual-colour LEDs can be programmed into amber directional arrows to assist in traffic control.

Inside, auxiliary switches on the steering wheel allow officers to activate emergency lights and siren without having to look down or take their hands off the steering wheel. The vehicle also includes both a front and rear facing camera system, reverse camera, reverse sensing system and a blind spot monitoring system. The integrated centre console holds the radio, laptop base and all-important cup holders between the two front seats.

Officer safety is again emphasized, right back to the rear seat, with larger rear door openings for easier access, molded prisoner seats with recessed lower seat backs for easier handcuffing and a centre-mounted seat belt system that places the buckles on the outboard side of the seat.


Wilfrid Laurier University Constable Service will receive the Best Dressed Law Enforcement Vehicle Award for 2015. Wilfrid Laurier has campuses in Waterloo and Brantford and facilities in Kitchener and Toronto. The Wilfrid Laurier University Special Constable Service is responsible for the security of more than 100 buildings and campus properties, working closely with the Waterloo and Brantford police services to define operational requirements.

Special constables are sworn peace officers employed to preserve and maintain public peace and protect members and visitors to the university community. All vehicles are branded with a prominent Wilfrid Laurier University crest on the rear door and clear identification on the side. The colours in the graphic design pick up the colours from the crest, and the shape of the design duplicates the slope of the Ford’s hood line. Reflecting the modern and progressive campuses that they patrol, the Special Constable Service design is both clean and bold.


The St. Thomas Police Service will receive the Best Dressed Community Relations Vehicle Award for 2015. A community relations vehicle should be as distinctive and different as the many police services that protect us across the country. This category has seen everything from Hummers seized from drug dealers right up to full-on race cars. Given this criteria the brand new St. Thomas Police Service K-9 Unit meets the very definition of a community relations vehicle.

Built on a 2014 Ford Police Interceptor Utility, the K-9 unit is specially equipped for police service dog duties with a back up camera, American Aluminum K-9 insert, Ace K9 Hot-N-Pop Pro system to regulate the temperature in the canine area and a remote door opener feature, which allows the officer to unleash the dog from up to one kilometer away. D&R Electronics provided the metal storage container with pull out drawers in the rear trunk area and all installation brackets for the mobile data terminal and radio equipment.

The exterior graphics and decaling match the existing fleet but the main colour is silver grey instead of the dark blue and white of the fleet cruisers. This was done to soften the look and better show off sponsorship decals from the many community partners who helped make the K-9 unit and police service dog Trax a reality for the city’s 38,000 residents.


The Treaty Three Police Service has been selected to receive the Best Dressed First Nations Police Vehicle Award for 2015.

Blue Line quickly recognized the instantly identifiable red outlining orange letters on a black truck. It illustrates how simple, modern and bold designs are timeless. You know immediately where this vehicle is from and its function.

Major updates to officer safety have been made. Radio and light controls are on the dash so officers can operate all equipment without taking their eyes off the road. The new Blac-Rac vertical weapons mount system, which securely grip patrol carbines with the receiver out and magazine in, allow room for top-mounted optics. The articulating mount can be opened with either a key or self-contained encapsulated power supply, reducing wear by eliminating bouncing around or rattling while in the rack.

A new master kill switch protects the Fleet-net radios during vehicle boosts.

Treaty Three Police’s 85 sworn members serve 18,550 residents in 28 First Nation Territories in the Kenora and Rainy River areas. The vast majority grew up in the area and all officers train with and meet Ontario police agency standards.

The service motto is “Policing for the people by the people.” It now exclusively buys Sierra trucks for GMC’s longer service life on remote roads, quick acceleration and fuel economy.


In honour of Canadian Forces members serving around the world, we award Canada’s Military Police with the Best Dressed Police Vehicle Award in the inaugural Special Service category. The G-Wagon – short for Gelandewagen – is the new Canadian Forces Light Utility Vehicle Wheeled (LUVW), for overseas deployment and tactical transport for control, liaison, reconnaissance and military police.

Powered by a 2.7-litre, 5-cylinder turbo-charged diesel, it replaces the completely unprotected Iltis light utility vehicle. The army has ordered 1,200 G-wagons since 2003. There’s three versions: the basic utility vehicle with large roof racks; a command and reconnaissance version with rotating gun-mount and the similar MP version with blue and red rotating beacons. Perhaps slightly less able to partake in high (or even moderate) speed pursuits, it nevertheless can go places previously accessible only to tanks and 8-wheeled LAV armoured vehicles. Even with its armaments and optional armoured kit, the G-wagon is still vulnerable to IEDs. Two MPs, Corporals Mathew Dinning and Randy Payne, were killed in Kandahar when their G-wagon hit an IED while serving with the inaugural Military Police close protection team.

While others in the trade may debate whether the Military Police should be considered Capital M' Military first, andsmall p’ Police second or the other way around, Blue Line will always recognize the men and women of Canada’s Military Police as “Capital M, Capital P.”

Blue Line Magazine has been recognizing the best in police vehicle design and equipment for the past nine years. will be making a formal presentation of plaques in honour of all these agencies at the awards banquet to be held in conjunction with its annual Blue Line Expo on April 21st. The vehicle and ageny profiles will also be the lead feature in the January edition of Blue Line Magazine.


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