A word of warning if you’re an aggressive driver, and your travels take you through Broward County, Florida: You’re being targeted by Dodge Challenger-driving Sheriff’s Deputies driving this Hemi-powered ’09 Challenger. 

It's one of two Challengers that are now in the Broward County Sheriff's fleet...along with 250 Hemi-powered Chargers.

Don Prichard, who’s the Broward County Sheriff’s interim Director of Fleet Services, says that both the grey-on-gray one, and the green-and-white one, will see some serious duty. 

“The ghost-striped one will be out for aggressive-driving enforcement on highways and main thoroughfares. The green-and-white marked will go to all the (BCSO) districts as a traffic enforcement car, and also as a community-relations car.”

Prichard adds that the green-and-white Challenger, whose color scheme is a throwback to the one the BCSO used in the late ‘60s/early ‘70s, is already getting a lot of attention on the street. “A Deputy goes out in that car, and everyone stops and takes pictures of it, and they say that it
looks like a Transformers car!”

Were these vehicles seized and forfeited from wrong-doers? “No, actually they were put out for bid, specifically for the Aggressive Driving Task Force, which we are putting in for a Federal grant,” says Prichard, who adds that not a lot of extra equipment was needed to upfit these
Challengers for duty—they just added lights and striping. “Everything on the green and white car was donated. Inside the grey one, we added radar and a camera system, plus the lights and the Titanium striping for the Titanium-color car.”

Need we ask how the Broward County Sheriff’s Officers that drove these cars think about them? “They love ‘em!,” says Prichard without hesitation.

These Challengers join a Broward County Sheriff’s fleet that already contains 250 5.7L Hemi-powered Chargers on patrol duty, plus some newly-acquired 2.7L V6-powered ones used as administrative cars.

By the way—in case you’re thinking of ‘challenging’ these Challengers (or their Hemi-powered LX-platform fleetmates) on the streets and roads of Broward County, think again.

The penalties for fleeing an officer in a motor vehicle in Florida are strict….run from a cop in a motor vehicle, and it’s a third-degree felony (punishable by up to five years in prison, with a three-year mandatory minimum, plus a $5,000 fine).

Run from a cop and drive at high speed “…or in any manner which demonstrates a wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property,” as the law states, and it’s a second-degree felony (that’s up to 15 years in prison with a three-year mandatory minimum, on top of a $10,000 fine).

And if you run from a cop and drive “…at high speed, or in any manner which demonstrates a wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property, and cause serious bodily injury or death to another person, including any law enforcement officer involved in pursuing or otherwise attempting to effect a stop of the person's vehicle,” that’s a first-degree felony which gets you 30-years-to-life in prison, with a three-year mandatory minimum. (And a $10K fine.)

Also, your driver’s license will be gone for from one to five years, and your vehicle--or what’s left of it--will be subject to seizure and
forfeiture.