Winter Weather Approaches; Cops Ready

Winter weather is heading our way, but the National Weather Service forecast has the Blackwood area getting less than an inch of snow from the approaching system.

The snow is expected to begin falling, with rain mixed in, late tonight. It will shift to all rain in the morning in our area, but not until around 9 a.m., perhaps making for a messy morning commute.

The temperature is expected to be around 32 degrees in the morning, according to National Weather Service.

Gloucester Township Police Department will be ready for whatever Mother Nature has in store for our area with this storm and others to follow. The department announced on Monday that 13 2013 Ford Police Interceptor utility all-wheel-drive (AWD) vehicles have been delivered.

After the severe winter weather of 2010, and with the phase out of the rear- wheel-drive Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor in 2011, Police Chief W. Harry Earle put together a committee to select a new patrol vehicle to better meet the needs of the Police Department's patrol officers.

The committee determined the Police Department could improve the capabilities and the safety of its officers in winter weather by adding the AWD vehicles to the fleet. After two years of research, the committee chose the Ford Explorer Police Interceptor utility AWD vehicle.

The 2013 Ford police interceptor is built for the tough demands of police work.

In addition to its AWD capability, the vehicle has a V6 flex-fuel engine which gets better gas mileage than the Crown Victoria's V8 engine, which will help save the township money on gas. It also has a larger cargo area, which has allowed police officers to have more emergency equipment available to them while on patrol.

These new vehicles have also been equipped with the most state-of-the-art equipment available, including digital radios, 4G data modems, mobile data computers, electronic-ticketing printers, digital in-car camera systems, mobile field report-writing software, criminal-identification software, weapon-mounting systems and a new prisoner seat transport system which is designed to make it safer to secure a prisoner with a seat belt.