Louisville motorists may soon find themselves pulled over by an unfamiliar vehicle.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office is phasing out its tan vehicles in favor of new ones with a black color scheme.
“We want the public to be able to see: This is what the new vehicles are going to look like. You are not being pulled over by someone that’s portraying to be the police but really aren’t,” said Col. Steve Healey, the sheriff’s office’s second-in-command and a candidate for sheriff in next year’s election, during a Dec. 11 press conference.
The move to the technologically advanced new black Ford vehicles comes at a time when, under new Jefferson County Sheriff David James, the agency is increasing its traffic enforcement with more stops across the county.
According to Healey, the sheriff’s office has ordered five of the new vehicles in addition to a prototype the office showed off to members of the media on Thursday. Healey said the office will take on another five next year.
The plan is to replace the older tan vehicles as they go out of service, meaning people will see a mix of tan and black sheriff’s office vehicles on the roadways for some time.
He said it did not “make financial sense” to repaint the older vehicles. Similarly, he said the color scheme change was a cost-saving measure as, if they wanted new tan vehicles, the office would have to purchase white vehicles and paint them for additional money.
“It was going back to being good stewards of our taxpayer dollars. We are looking for ways that we can actually save money while enhancing public safety. And that is the result of why you see the new patterns,” he said.
In a prepared statement sent out by the sheriff’s office after the press conference, an additional quote attributed to Healey said the first six vehicles were funded with seized drug money.
“In this case, the taxpayers didn’t pay for these patrol cars — the drug dealers did,” he said in the quote included in the statement. “It’s one of the rare times you can say crime does pay, and we’re glad to put their money to much better use than they ever intended.”
Responding to questions from The Courier Journal at the press conference, Healey said the new patrol vehicles will cost about $45,000 apiece, with an additional $20,000 or so in outfitting.
The vehicles are being equipped with high tech outfitting, allowing officers to activate air horns hands-free as well as blare an automated voice at pulled-over vehicles.
Healey said the new vehicles will utilize geofencing technology, allowing them to automatically sound their air horns when they pass through specific intersections with their emergency equipment activated.
He added it will likely be 90 to 100 days before people start seeing the new vehicles on the roads.
Reach Josh Wood at jwood@courier-journal.com or on X at @JWoodJourno.

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