Hanford Police Officer Cristian Morales is one happy camper. That's because he'll soon be driving a new Dodge Durango during his shift.
See here's the thing. Officer Morales is 6 feet, 9 inches tall. That means he doesn't have much leg or head room in the department's Dodge Chargers. It can also be a struggle to get in and out of the car.
But the Durango will give him some much-needed space.
"Overall going to a bigger vehicle is going to benefit me in the end," Morales said. "I'm not going to feel like I'm all crunched up again."
A couple of months ago, Hanford City Council authorized the replacement of 11 Dodge Chargers (2013) with 11 Dodge Durangos through a lease agreement with Enterprise Fleet Management. This is in addition to five other Chargers that were previously authorized to be replaced with Durangos.
The Durangos are being paid for with vehicle replacement reserves. With the lease agreement, the vehicles will be rotated out faster, and that's expected to save the City money by reducing the number of major repairs done by the City's Fleet Maintenance Division.
If you happen to see Officer Morales out and about in his new Durango, say hello. He's hard to miss.