ORIGINAL: Yankee
The biggest factor that the police Charger has against it is the price. I don't know the figures off the top of my head, but the Chargers are at least a few thousand more than the standard Crown Vic - maybe a little less for the Chevy Impala, but right now, the Charger is by far the priciest - and that's a tough pill to swallow for some municipalities.
The Charger is the first true police competitor to the standard Crown Vic since the Caprice went away after 1996. There are many that have come along since then, most notably the Chevy Lumina (later Impala) and the Dodge Intrepid (and in some cases the Ford Taurus). But cops as a whole despised all of them. Most cops I know can't stand the current Impala for the same reason - they just don't have the room that the cops desire (and need). Especially today with all the computers, firearms, body armor and gun belts - they require alot of room, and the Crown Vics are the only ones that truly have that kind of room, which is why, along with the cheap price, they still remain a police favorite.
But I do think it's cool that Dodge is finally being taken seriously again in the police market... except when there's one looming in my rear view mirror.
This is true in the case of the HEMI equipped versions; however, the 3.5L models who actually offer about the same acceleration and a higher top speed and better fuel efficiency costs about the same as the Crown Vic. The police stations didn't seem to mind shelling out the extra money for the Crown Vics when the faster, yet lower priced Intrepid was being used. Part of the issue other than what I listed already is they are stubborn and do not want to change their ways.
The only reason why the Impala caught on was purely the nameplate. The Lumina was a complete flop and the only real diffference between the Impala and the Lumina is the name (both are W-body cars). The problem with the current Impala is it has lost several of the advantages that the previous one had to offer. The braking distance on the previous one was the best in the industry, the current one is the worst, and police value braking distances as it can often save themselves from accidents. The other problem is the current Impala doesn't have the fuel savings which interestingly some police stations actually bought the Impala for that reason. The only thing that is better about the new one is the engine actually can compete with similar acceleration times and having a top speed that is higher than the Crown Vic (141 mph vs. 130 mph). The previous one was very slow at 124 mph, good luck catching people at that speed in a high speed pursuit when they say you need 20 mph extra to catch up with some criminals.
I know the space is an issue (hence the reason why I cringed when I heard the stats on the size of the LX cars), but I think the police should retire the Crown Vic. Having a car that is getting easier and easier to outrun and easier to out manuver due to cars getting faster and better handling is hardly a wise choice if you ask me. If Ford would have actually put in some effort into the Crown Vic (an engine that can at least match the acceleration and top speed of say a 94-96 Caprice, brakes that can also match the same Caprice, not wait until 2004 to put in such "innovative" technology as say rack-and-pinion steering, a new transmission with more than 4-speeds, and other reasonable changes) they might be able to keep any competition away by having a product that police love so well that they won't have any reason to want to change and maybe somebody besides them, taxis, and senior citizens might actually want to drive one. It might also pay to once in a while change the appearance so it doesn't look like the last time they put in any effort and actually cared was 1992.