Video: 2016 Ford Police Interceptor Utility - First Look

So get ready for a detailed look at this car. Probably the closest look you can get without breaking the law first. Now Ford introduced the Interceptor Utility in 2012, and the company claims it takes up 55% of all law enforcement vehicles now. So probably an all too familiar sight if you're someone who frequently speeds. Blacked out grill here with lights embedded in it. Behind the grill is either a 3.7 liter V6 or an EcoBoost twin turbo V6, both developed according to testing specifications from Michigan State Police and the LA County Sheriff's Department. Now the front doors in the Police Interceptor Utility can have armor plating that starts at up to 40 pounds per door, and can be spec'd all the way up to enough to stop an AR-15 or AK-47 round. Let's see what's inside. Now, Ford has a much lower center console here in the Interceptor Utility than it does in the Explorer, in part because the gear shift from the Explorer that was on the console has actually moved up to a column mounted gear shift right here. Now this whole area right here has been designed so police officers can take all of their equipment from say a Crown Victoria police cruiser and plug it all back in right here with no need to change any equipment. Ford says that's because a lot of police officers have the same equipment that they move between multiple cars. You obviously have a lot of controls for lights down here. And Ford is all about trying to keep your eyes on the road and your hands on the wheel, the company says. And so it's got auxiliary buttons here that you can plug in things to the center stack and have controls do whatever you wanted them to do from the steering wheel. Now Ford says there's an available surveillance mode in the Police Interceptor Utility to mitigate people sneaking up on the back while an officer is writing things down or concentrating on their computer or something else like that. So if it actually senses somebody coming up in back, it will automatically roll up all of your windows and lock the doors. And then you probably want to tell them to step away from the vehicle. Now, the partition between the front seats and the rear seats in the Police Interceptor Utility actually has breakaway panels up here, Ford says. In case the curtain airbags have to deploy, these breakaway so the curtains can do their thing. The front seats also have metal plates in them to resist any sort of stabbing attempts between people in the backseat and officers sitting up front. Needless to say, hopefully this is the only time you ever have to see the back seat of a police car. (handle rattling) All right guys, I'm gonna need some help back here. (engine revving)