2006 Dodge Magnum Police Package

Chief Constable Jamie Graham says, "bring it on!"

The outspoken Chief of the Vancouver Police Department in beautiful British Columbia, Canada has long been a Mopar nut. In

In his days on the police force, Chief Constable Jamie Graham has spent plenty of time behind the wheel of various Chrysler police products. (Photo: Rob Rothwell, Canadian Auto Press)

fact, in the days when he sported lamb-chop sideburns, a full head of hair and bellbottom Wayfarers, he owned a 1969 Dodge Super Bee. In the hedonistic '70s, the Chief also wore the red serge of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

As a patrol cop amidst the roughneck loggers and oil riggers of western Canada, the Chief spent plenty of time behind the wheel of various Chrysler police products. Enormous Mopar V8s powered the old black-and-whites, gulping fuel through massive four-barrel carburetors well before anyone ever conceived of an energy crisis or conservation. On

With the demise of many full-size rear-drive sedans, police departments have been left with little to fulfill their patrol-car needs. (Photo: Rob Rothwell, Canadian Auto Press)

the long stretches of open highway between the frontier towns Graham policed, the lone cops heavily favoured the big Plymouths and Dodges for their unrelenting power and performance.

To the domestic auto manufacturers, the police market in North America is huge, both in numbers and cachet. With the demise of many full-size rear-drive sedans, police departments have been left with little to fulfill their patrol-car needs other than Ford's long-running Crown Victoria. DaimlerChrysler is determined to change that by shaking up the police market with arguably one of the coolest rides to hit the domestic landscape in years.