At the Greater Cincinnati Police Museum, one of the newest exhibits is a white 2010 Ford Crown Victoria with the word police, in reflective blue and in all caps spanning all four doors.
Museum Director Bill Beuke says this particular cruiser, license plate 10312, belonged to the Cincinnati Police Department and was in service until recently.
Bueke says the officer who drove it recognized it was the last of its kind in the department's fleet.
"He was talking with someone here at the museum, and we'd mentioned it'd be great if we had it," Beuke says. "2024, I sent a letter to the chief requesting that we get this Crown Vic when it goes out of service."
And Bueke got his wish. Instead of selling the vehicle when they retired it this year, the department donated it.
It’s not the first police-cruiser-turned-artifact in the state: The Cleveland Police Museum has two in its collection, one from the Ohio State Highway Patrol, and another from Cleveland Heights, which is displayed in honor of two officers who died in the line of duty.
A cop classic
The modern Ford Crown Victoria police interceptor was introduced in 1992. At 17-feet long with four doors, it had room for officers, equipment, and passengers.
The Crown Vic was durable. And it was affordable.
It could also go very fast.
"If you were on a run that required two officers you got there first, and maybe you needed somebody to step up their response a little bit, you knew that vehicle was coming because of that engine sound," says Police Corporal Ben Moore. "That Crown Victoria sound alone was always like a sigh of relief."
Moore's department in Hamilton County’s Green Township still has a Crown Vic, using it as a reserve K-9 unit.
"It's already proven to be a great decision. We were able to help out the city of Cheviot. Their police K-9 vehicle was getting some repairs done, and they borrowed ours for their dog. We are putting this thing to use in every which way until it absolutely goes."
Moore says he's a big fan of the Crown Vic, and its durability.
"24-7, around the clock. You could beat them up, if you will: they just didn't stop."
And he's not the only fan. A friend of his in another department loved the car just as much, if not more.
"He bought his old police cruiser or one of the old Crown Vics at a police auction once it went, to have it because he was that obsessed with it."
A decreasing presence
Ford stopped making the model in 2011 and these days there aren’t a ton of departments still using them across Ohio.
Jacob Howell of Waynesfield runs a Facebook group called Ohio Law Enforcement Pictures recording his visits to different departments. Howell estimates about two dozen agencies still use Crown Vics. Many of those are in small communities.
Besides its iconoclast status, Museum Director Bill Beuke says the Crown Vic makes for a good museum piece because it represents a leap forward in law enforcement, because the cars were purpose-built for police departments.
"Before that we'd get cars right off the assembly line. They're family cars. They're not run 24 hours a day. They break down faster," he says. "Once we started getting police packages, [it] made a difference."
The cruiser at the Greater Cincinnati Police Museum is in pretty good shape. It has a new paint job, and the flashing lights are hooked up. When the museum reopens in a new home, Bueke says they want to have it on display, alongside other historic cop cars in the collection.