Hundreds of police cars all under one roof – if you’re part of the criminal fraternity, it’s the stuff of nightmares, but for the rest of us, it’s an amazing insight into how police forces choose and buy their new cars. We visited the National Association of Police Fleet Managers (NAPFM) 2016 motor show to see what a motorshow for police officers is really like.

The undoubted star of the 2016 NAPFM exhibition is Ford’s remarkable police-liveried Mustang. Decked out in the very same high-vis stickers used by all other police cars, crowds flocked to it and rightly so.

It’s as if the Ford Mustang was born to be a British police car, no? There’s already no missing a new Mustang on British roads at the moment: add in a police makeover and the very last excuse you could ever use would be that you didn’t see them, officer.

Thing is, this is no promo showcase – a spokesman admitted to use that forces are already assessing the new V8-engined Mustang. Perhaps not for liveried-up duties, but certainly as a fast-response car. Indeed, look outside, advised the Ford man.

There indeed was the actual Ford Mustang currently being assessed by forces across the country, taking a few days out its busy schedule to appear at the NAPFM show. So, why are forces so interested in it? Because huge performance for less than £35,000, that’s why. You’ll struggle to find a bigger bang for your buck, and when that buck is the public’s money, this sort of stuff counts…

Police BMW M2
Another high-performance icon wearing police stickers at the NAPFM show was, yes, BMW’s new M2. You know, the 370hp rear-drive performance car that’s already wholly wowed us several times this year. The perfect high-performance addition to a police car fleet full of more mundane BMWs, reckons the firm.

The regular BMW M2 costs around £44,000, but add in a decent police discount and you could have something that, like the Mustang, financially stacks up. With even mainstream hot hatches becoming ever-more powerful, police forces need to up their performance accordingly to stand a chance of catching miscreants. Enter cars like the M2.

So although it seems a bit of a stunt to have the mighty new M2 at a police car show, it’s actually not as wild as it sounds. Don’t be surprised if a few forces place a discreet order for the wild new M2 – perhaps not wearing livery quite as standout as this, though. Remember, stealth matters.

Police Volkswagen Golf GTE
Speaking of green fleet commitments, how about a plug-in hybrid Volkswagen Golf GTE? It’s the eco-friendly GTI and, in this fantastic ‘eco-interceptor’ livery, looks fantastic.

If police forces are carrying out low-speed local duties, it works as a full EV so they can do their bit for inner-city emissions. Hundreds of police cars all under one roof – if you’re part of the criminal fraternity, it’s the stuff of nightmares, but for the rest of us, it’s an amazing insight into how police forces choose and buy their new cars. We visited the National Association of Police Fleet Managers (NAPFM) 2016 motor show to see what a motorshow for police officers is really like.

The undoubted star of the 2016 NAPFM exhibition is Ford’s remarkable police-liveried Mustang. Decked out in the very same high-vis stickers used by all other police cars, crowds flocked to it and rightly so.

It’s as if the Ford Mustang was born to be a British police car, no? There’s already no missing a new Mustang on British roads at the moment: add in a police makeover and the very last excuse you could ever use would be that you didn’t see them, officer.

Thing is, this is no promo showcase – a spokesman admitted to use that forces are already assessing the new V8-engined Mustang. Perhaps not for liveried-up duties, but certainly as a fast-response car. Indeed, look outside, advised the Ford man.

There indeed was the actual Ford Mustang currently being assessed by forces across the country, taking a few days out its busy schedule to appear at the NAPFM show. So, why are forces so interested in it? Because huge performance for less than £35,000, that’s why. You’ll struggle to find a bigger bang for your buck, and when that buck is the public’s money, this sort of stuff counts…

Police BMW M2
Another high-performance icon wearing police stickers at the NAPFM show was, yes, BMW’s new M2. You know, the 370hp rear-drive performance car that’s already wholly wowed us several times this year. The perfect high-performance addition to a police car fleet full of more mundane BMWs, reckons the firm.

The regular BMW M2 costs around £44,000, but add in a decent police discount and you could have something that, like the Mustang, financially stacks up. With even mainstream hot hatches becoming ever-more powerful, police forces need to up their performance accordingly to stand a chance of catching miscreants. Enter cars like the M2.

So although it seems a bit of a stunt to have the mighty new M2 at a police car show, it’s actually not as wild as it sounds. Don’t be surprised if a few forces place a discreet order for the wild new M2 – perhaps not wearing livery quite as standout as this, though. Remember, stealth matters.

Police Volkswagen Golf GTE
Speaking of green fleet commitments, how about a plug-in hybrid Volkswagen Golf GTE? It’s the eco-friendly GTI and, in this fantastic ‘eco-interceptor’ livery, looks fantastic.

If police forces are carrying out low-speed local duties, it works as a full EV so they can do their bit for inner-city emissions. But the TSI petrol engine is ready in the background should the need for long-distance performance arise. Such green considerations may be a growing part of police car fleet policies in the future so we may well start to see more and more cars such as the Golf GTE on police fleets.