The new 2023 Chevy Silverado Police Pursuit Vehicle joins trucks from each of the Big Three that do double duty as consumer sales leaders and high-speed police vehicles. Each of these three trucks from Ford, Chevy and Ram is based on their best-selling work trucks and designed to help first responders meet their unique needs, which means running dozens of electric gadgets, lights and sirens to radios and computers, to hunting down the bad guys.

Police trucks from Ford, Chevy, and Ram are all four-door, four-wheel-drive trucks that aren’t too different from the trucks you and I can buy. But they are.

Each of these trucks also comes with suspension upgrades, special tires, and unique upgrades designed for police duty. They are also designed for “renovators” or third-party companies that add police-specific accessories to trucks, such as push bars, lights, and prisoner dividers. Each has specific guides to help installers find a plethora of electrical connectors that are special for those trucks’ high output alternators.

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Dodge and Ford, however, offer “anti-ambush” features, which automatically turn on exterior cameras, lock doors and roll up windows if a vehicle detects someone approaching.

Chevy and Ford trucks are also “pursuit rated”. According to the Policing Institute, a “pursuit rated” vehicle is: “A vehicle designed by the manufacturer for use in a police pursuit. Vehicles rated for pursuit or police vehicles have heavier frames, suspensions, steering, braking systems and speed-rated tires, and are designed for use in a high-speed pursuit situation. speed.

What do these special trucks offer that we can’t get in our “regular” vans?

The Ram Special Service: it has a Hemi

The 2022 Ram 1500 Classic Special Service comes with Ram’s popular 395-hp Hemi V8. It can be ordered with a higher axle ratio, 3.92:1, which means it can have a bit more off-line grunt than the standard four-wheel-drive Classic, which has a 3.55:1 .

At its core, however, the SS is a Ram Classic, which means it’s based on the least expensive version of Ram’s 1500 full-size truck. It has about the same payload and towing capacity as the Classic. It has the same power cloth front seats you can order, but it has a vinyl folding rear seat that you can’t. The 220 amp alternator is an option.

Ram’s corporate law enforcement cousins ​​include the Durango Pursuit SUV, Charger Pursuit sedan and Durango Special Service.

Ford F-150 Police Responder: the fastest police truck

The F-150 Police Responder was the first “pursuit-rated pickup” available in 2021. Ford says it’s the fastest, and its top speed is 120 mph with the 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 and 400 hp. Ford says it’s also the fastest-accelerating police vehicle. In Michigan State Police testing, the 2021 F-150 Police Responder hit 60 mph in 5.4 seconds, and the LA County Sheriff’s Department reported a 14.4-second quarter mile for the truck. These numbers are about the same as a 1999 Ford Mustang Mach 1.

The Responder is also equipped with special Goodyear tires that handle both speed and off-road tasks. For off-roading, the Responder has an automatic four-wheel-drive mode that’s optional on select F-150 trucks.

The truck can also be left alone idling, but it cannot be driven unless the key is present.

The F-150 Responder is, in many ways, an XL spec truck that starts at around $30,000.

The 2023 Silverado PPV: Chevy’s First Pursuit Truck

The new 2023 Silverado Police Pursuit Vehicle is Chevy’s first pursuit truck, and it comes with the 355-hp 5.3-liter V8. Chevy says it took what it learned from building its Tahoe PPV and added it to the Silverado. The new truck is one of the first you can see with Chevy’s new 2023 grille and headlights.

Silverados, however, have been rated among the least reliable trucks by Consumer Reports.

The Silverado PPV has the beefy Rancho shocks from the Z71 package and 20-inch steel wheels. Like the other trucks, it has auxiliary wiring, which includes several switches allowing upfitters to add lights and sirens.

The truck is also offered with the Multiflex tailgate and a tri-fold tonneau cover on the 5.8-foot bed.

Trucks are now among the most popular vehicles on the road, they could soon be found in your local police department’s parking lot as well.

Related: Protect and Deflect: The World’s 10 Fastest Police Cars