The winners of a local competition may see their own design riding around town on the sides of a new joint-patrol cruiser.
Athens Police Department and Ohio University Police Department will be inscribing a new contest’s top logo onto a decommissioned OUPD Crown Victoria, said Ron Lucas, Athens’ assistant service safety director.
“We replace one of our cruisers every year,” OUPD Chief Andrew Powers said. “This one had just been rolled out of service. We simply decided to reuse it instead of throwing it out.”
Lucas said he was unable to give an estimate on the cost of the logo because the design had not yet been selected.
To compete in the contest, teams must consist of one person affiliated with OU and another who is not affiliated with the university. They will be tasked with creating a design with both APD’s and OUPD’s logos, according to the design application form.
The deadline for submissions is May 25.
“The goal is to have the design done and announced by the end of May,” Powers said. “Hopefully (we will) have it in service by fall.”
Lucas said this was the first time Athens has done a contest of this nature.
The Joint-Police Advisory Council, along with Athens Mayor Paul Wiehl and OU President Roderick McDavis, will decide on the final design for the car.
The use of joint patrols, in which there is one officer from each department in the car at the same time, is something APD and OUPD began implementing during the past two to three years, Powers said.
“Right now, we run joint patrol Thursday, Friday and Saturday, so about 24 hours a week,” Powers said. “We do regular joint patrol that’s scheduled and planned … obviously our two departments work together for (things like) Palmer Fest and Halloween.”
Although the departments will be getting a joint-patrol cruiser, Powers said there has not been any recent discussion about raising the number of hours the joint patrol will be on duty.
One of the primary reasons for the project was to promote cooperation among Athens residents and OU students and between APD and OUPD.
“I think the cruiser shows that the city of Athens and OU do work together. As far as the design goes, it shows that the community is involved,” Lucas said.
Powers said he has a strong professional relationship with the local police department, something that was not as strong as when he worked at Miami University Police Department before working for OUPD.
“We work together very closely, Powers said. “We talk on a regular basis. I very much enjoy working with (Athens Police) Chief (Tom) Pyle.”
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