The Oklahoma Highway Patrol is phasing out the black patrol cars and returning to black and white, the original color scheme used by OHP.
Lt. Mark Southall, of OHP’s public information office, brought the first new black and white patrol car to Durant last week.
“It’s an honor to be able to bring back this black and white car,” Southall said. “It’s something that we gave up 15 years ago. To be able to have this car back means a lot to troopers that have driven the black and white and even the new troopers that have never been able to drive the black and white.”
According to Southall, the paint scheme is the same one that OHP had on its very first patrol care in 1937.
He said it will bring back OHP’s visibility.
“Our vehicles, black and whites, will be more visible on the roadways and the interstates,” Southall said. “People recognize a black and white car as a statement.”
The new car is the the first one. “It’s the only one in the state,” Southall said. “I wanted to get that car out and I wanted people to see it. So, I came from Tulsa down here to Troop E and you know, people out here, especially in the rural counties, know what it means to see a black and white car and I wanted them to be able to see it again.
“We’re hoping to start getting the new cars that we’re issuing out, making those black and white. Those hopefully, will be coming out before the end of the year and then all cars thereafter will either be the black and white, or we’ll have the reflective units that could be on our interstates at night where the reflectivity makes them more visible on the interstates.”
