Baxter Police To Add Two Vehicles With Voice Command Capabilities To Fleet

The Baxter Police Department is adding new, high-tech vehicles to its fleet.

Chief Danny Holmes said that the two, 2021 fully-equipped Dodge Chargers have the ability to use voice commands through the vehicle.

“You know we go to fires,” Holmes said. “And people are always wanting to get up close and these cars will tell them to ‘Stand back,’ and it’s a lot easier for the car to come through the loudspeaker than you trying to use your own voice.”

Holmes said that the department will lease the vehicles for five years at some $14,000 a year. He said that at the end of the five-year lease, the city would then own the vehicles.

Holmes said that each vehicle will serve as a regular patrol car maintained by one assigned officer. He said the department is in possession of the vehicles and will put them to use as soon as the decals are put on the cars.

“I’m always excited when we get new equipment,” Holmes said. “And the citizens of Baxter, like I said, when they look out their window and the light reflects against the decal, they’re going to know that the patrol car is in their area. That the car is out patroling, And that is what I wanted. I wanted everybody to know that we are out, we’re out in force, and we’re out for the citizens of Baxter.”

Holmes said that and the people of Baxter should be proud of the mayor and the council for the way they support the department because many small towns don’t get the opportunity to have new cars of this nature,

“They can’t afford old cars like this and they drive old cars with 200,000 miles on them and that’s dangerous,” Holmes said. “You get a car with that many miles on it and you need to service it and it’s not really road-worthy anymore for what we do. Our cars are on the car, they’re idle, they work radar, so we’re just really happy to get what we’ve got in our town.”