SANDUSKY — Erie County Sheriff Paul Sigsworth is used to doing one thing the same every day for the last 15 years: cruising the county in a Ford Crown Victoria police cruiser.
That era is now officially over.
“This Crown Vic was the last one that was issued to me. It was the last one we had on the road, and unfortunately, we don’t have any more Crown Vics on the road,” Sigsworth said outside the sheriff’s office, standing next to the retired vehicle. “These are going to be surplus, are going to be sold at auction.”
Sigsworth called the Crown Victoria an “excellent police vehicle” that served Erie County deputies — and taxpayers — well for a decade and a half.
“They were economical. They were dependable,” he said. “I was actually in three different crashes where the car I was driving was totaled, and I walked a little slower now, but at least I’m still walking around. So they were very, very sturdy in a crash.”
Before the Crown Vic, Sigsworth drove a Plymouth or maybe a Dodge St. Regis. Nothing matched Ford’s workhorse sedan, he said.
“These served the taxpayers and the agency very well,” he said.
Still, time — and technology — have moved on.
Sigsworth now drives an SUV — a 2024 Chevy Tahoe — which he says hasn’t yet proven itself the way the Crown Vic did, but has already shown clear advantages.
“With the SUVs, obviously the four-wheel drive… the Crown was two-wheel drive,” Sigsworth said. “There’s a couple of road crews that could laugh about times they got stuck, and they had to pull me out.”
Snow and rural driveways in Erie County could be a nightmare in a Crown Vic. “If the driveway was blown shut, the Crown Vic, we couldn’t get up there — where we can in the SUV,” Sigsworth said. “That’s very important, very critical sometimes when we need to respond immediately to those calls.”
Sigsworth thanked the county commissioners for supporting the switch to newer vehicles.
The Sheriff’s Office ordered about a dozen Crown Vics in 2011, the last model year for the vehicle.
“I do want to thank the county commissioners for realizing that there are vehicles now out there that can do a better job for us as we serve the community,” he said.
The sheriff admitted he’ll miss the Crown Vic, but he’s looking forward to what the new generation of cruisers can do.
“They just did a great job for us,” Sigsworth said. “But the new vehicle is very special.”
