The Inter-Mountain photo by Edgar Kelley The Elkins Police Department has recently obtained three new black and white 2020 Ford Interceptors to add to its fleet of patrol cars.

ELKINS — Older residents around town may feel a bit nostalgic when seeing the Elkins Police Department patrolling the city streets in their new cruisers.

For years the EPD has had different color schemes within their cruiser fleet, most of which came in some type of blue. But recently the department obtained three new patrol units that are sporting the “old school” black and white color combination that is catching people’s eyes.

“I’ve heard a lot of compliments and received a great deal of feedback from citizens concerning our new cruisers,” said Elkins Mayor Van Broughton. “It was a big change and everyone seems to like them. They remind you of how the police cruisers used to be and our goal is to eventually have every cruiser in our fleet look like the new ones.”

The three new vehicles in the fleet are 2020 Ford Interceptor Sport Utility Vehicles. During a recent test conducted by Michigan State Police, the all-wheel drive Interceptor, which is a highly modified Ford Explorer, reached a top speed of 137 miles per hour and went from 0-60 mph in just 7.8 seconds.

“We chose the Interceptor because we’ve had good experience with them in the past,” said Elkins Police Chief Travis Bennett. “I made the decision to switch to black and white in order to standardize the fleet.

“The options for blue change every year and change between manufacturers. This makes it difficult to have a standardized fleet without paying for a custom paint scheme and this is a problem that the department has faced for several years. By switching to black and white, this paint scheme will be available every year and by every manufacturer.”

Ford is the largest supplier of police vehicles and has been since 2014. It accounts for 50 percent of all new units sold in the United States.