The cars are on order. The Yakima Police Department has officially ordered 74 new police vehicles from the Ford Motor Company.

Capt. Jeff Schneider says ordering was the easy part. He notes the work comes when the vehicles arrive in October.

“We expect most of the cars to come in at the same time. They’ll have to be parked somewhere.”

The city is now working up contracts with vendors to outfit the vehicles with police equipment.

Schneider says they'll prepare about three to five vehicles a week. He expects all the cars to come in at about the same time.

The cars will then be assigned to officers. Schneider says all the 74 vehicles, sedans and SUV's will be on Yakima city streets by June of next year.

Yakima city officials expect the increased visibility of police cars will help reduce crime. They also think officers will take better care of their cars.

Officers agreed to forgo pay raises for two years to help pay for the $4.7 million police car program.

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