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The Rock County Sheriff’s Office is transitioning its squad car logo from side panel stripes to a simple patch and updating all vehicles to black Chevy Tahoes.
Until all vehicles are updated, sheriff’s deputies are driving four different makes and models of vehicles in different colors and varied markings.
Sheriff Evan Verbrugge said his own squad, a 9-year-old white Chevy Tahoe, is different from all the others, and is owned by the county. Verbrugge is budgeting to replace the upcoming 10-year-old vehicle in 2023.
The county fleet also includes Ford Explorers and Ford Taurus cars along with the new model Chevy Tahoes.
Some are black and white, some are black, some have side panel striping and some have the Sheriff’s Office shoulder patch design on the side.
Verbrugge said eventually all county squad cars will be black Chevy Tahoes marked by a Sheriff’s Office patch design on the side.
He said he’ll be glad to have his deputies in vehicles more suited for responding to incidents on winter roads.
“People have this misconception that we have magic carpets,” he said. “But it’s hard for us to get places in cars.”
The Sheriff’s Office budgets $85,000 per year for 13 squads. The county leases its vehicles from the state at that price for four years, 85,000 miles.
When the two new deputies are hired, there will be two more squads.