In South Africa, police vehicles comprise Corollas, Golfs and BMWs. However, in a place like Dubai, police often sit in the lap of luxury with high-performance cars at their beckoning call with Audi R8s or Nissan GT-Rs to name a few. Surprisingly, the Czech Republic’s police force has hopped onto the supercar police vehicle bandwagon and introduced their special Ferrari 458 Italia – but not for a reason you’d expect.
The Czech Republic police claim that the Ferrari 458 was confiscated last year after securing property allegedly acquired through criminal activity. They reported that last year saw almost 900 vehicles seized, although the vast majority weren’t as luxurious as this confiscated 458.
Czech police have disclosed that they have made modifications to the car, which costs them in the ballpark of around R236 000. Some added equipment includes a radio, pistol speedometer, warning lights and inscription display, but other than that and a special visible police livery, the car appears to be relatively stock. This is because power figures are the same as what you would find in a stock 458 Italia.
“The vehicle will be used in a nationwide unit and we are counting on its deployment against the most aggressive pirates of Czech roads. We can also use its potential when chasing stolen vehicles that pass through our territory to neighboring countries. The range of tasks that the vehicle will perform is really wide.” — Colonel Jiří Zlý, Director of the traffic police service.
According to the Czech police service, around 30 high-profile races occur every year involving high-performance cars which are too powerful for regular patrol vehicles. This is where the confiscated Ferrari will come into play. Alongside that, the 458 Italia will also be used to conduct searches for stolen vehicles and supervise reported modified car meets.
Who knows, perhaps the South African police may decide to do the same if corrupt officials and tenderpreneurs are ever brought to book.
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