Variety helps police meet winter driving challenges

Police officers arrive at the scene of emergencies as soon as possible but snow and ice can slow them down as much as they slow civilian drivers.

Snow from Wednesday’s winter storm made streets so slick that some officers couldn’t drive up steep hills.

Colorado Springs police have a variety of vehicles in their fleet to avoid having to rely on any particular vehicle that may not handle as well on snow and ice.

“Most of our fleet is older rear-wheel-drive tires,” said Lt. Patricia Feese. “We use chains with them. We also have four-wheel-drive SUVs, front-wheel-drive cars and some newer all-wheel-drive vehicles.”

Police also have four Hummers available for use in blizzards and similar emergencies.

“It’d be perfect if all of our vehicles were all-wheel-drive of four-wheel-drive,” Feese said. “But that’s not a reality, so we make the best of what we have.”

Feese said winter storms don’t significantly increase response times for officers.

“Many of our responses are for crashes,” she said. “If drivers would just slow down, that would help us and them.”