The first patrol car driven by Lapeer County Sheriff's Department deputy Stacy Stimson was the 1974 Dodge Monaco as displayed at the American Legion Post on Saturday Photo by MIKE MERCIER

"The Monaco was the first patrol car I ever drove when I started here," said Lapeer County Sheriff's Department deputy Stacy Stimson. "It had a 440 engine and it was fast, but you never knew what lane you were going to be in. It was a tank; you could easily make it through two to three feet of fresh snow. They sent us out to pick up nurses and drive them to the hospital when they couldn't make it for their shift after a snowstorm."

Metamora Police Chief Walt Sierakowski, a Lapeer County Sheriff's deputy from 1975 to 2000, has no fond memories of the cruisers.

"There was no AM radio and no air conditioning," Sierakowski said. "When you wrote a ticket in the summer, the driver's copy was sometimes drenching wet from the moisture from your arm and head."

The old patrol cars aren't missed, said Lapeer Township Police Chief Bill Marshall, a Lapeer County Sheriff's Department deputy in 1975.

"As we drove, dust would leak dust through the trunk and into the back seat. Your brown uniform shirt matched your gray pants," he said. "The car's top lights were belt driven rotating lights and half the time they didn't work. You'd turn them on and they would just sit there."

Almont Police Sgt. John Morse, a former Lapeer County Sheriff's reserve deputy, recalls driving a Chevrolet Caprice.

"They looked like a boat coming out of water," Morse said. "We got about 10 to 11 miles per gallon of gasoline, tops."

With 33 years of road patrol experience, Lapeer County Sheriff's deputy Terry Coulter logged many miles on the older squad cars.

"We had one Monaco, two Plymouth Grand Furies and another Ford," he said. "One of the speedometers didn't work, so that was our radar car. We used the radar to determine how fast we were going."

The newer police cars come equipped with full power, a good braking system and suspension.

"I remember driving 1977 and 1978 police cars, and we had a couple of old 1978 Plymouths," said Michigan State Police F/Lt. Patrick McGreevy, who became a policeman in 1980. " We used to refer to them as pavement rippers. They were built for flat out speed, but once you braked hard, those older cars were hard to keep under control. Now, they're so much more improved and have crash survivability built into the vehicle."

Communication inside and outside of patrol cars has been upgraded.

"Some of the biggest improvements have been the technology, and the equipment we put in," said Lapeer City Police Lt. Dave Frisch, who joined the force as a reserve officer in 1986. "The cost of it either meets or exceeds the cost of the patrol car itself. It's stocked with equipment such as a radio, mobile data terminal, radar, digital recording equipment. The old patrol cars had six to seven feet whip antennas and that's when we talked on a 38 megahertz band and you could only talk to people in your line of sight. The new antenna is three inches high and you can speak with people on the other side of the state. That's a pretty good advancement."

"Communications are a lot better, now that we have the 800 megahertz radios," said Lapeer County Sheriff's Lt. Jim McLain, on duty since 1975. "Before we had no communications outside Lapeer County. We had none with ambulances and none with the fire departments in our patrol cars. We also couldn't talk to other police agencies. Now, if I want to, I can walk out the door and talk to the state police in the Upper Peninsula."

Modern equipment has improved the efficiency of police officers.

"In the 1970s if we had a suspect, they required 10 prints to search the system," said Lapeer County Sheriff Ron Kalanquin, the department's leader since 1980. "Now, with AFIS, you can search a huge data base in a matter of minutes."

Patrol officers previously had to call Lansing to make an inquiry about a license, said Lapeer County Undersheriff Bob Rapson, a road patrol deputy in 1974.

"Back then if you needed a vehicle registration, you could send it to Lansing," Rapson said. "Now we have instant access to data. The technology is leaps and bounds. There are so many improvements. Each day is changing."

The department is dramatically different since Lapeer County Sheriff's Deputy Linda DeTavernier was on the job in 1977 as a clerk and dispatcher.

"I was one of two people who took all the calls and as a female you had to do hourly checks on the female prisoners in the jail," she said. "A corrections officer or a sergeant would sit at the desk, and once an hour we would check the females, or put them in their cells."

No one has seen more changes than Lapeer County Sheriff's Lt. Gary Parks, who has over 40 years with the department and grew up around the jail. His father, Kenneth Parks was the county sheriff from 1958 to 1977.

"He originally was appointed because Sheriff Bill Porter wanted to play in a band. When the county commissioners balked, he quit," said Parks. "Back then the sheriff had to feed all the prisoners, and his wife would do the grocery shopping, the cooking and serve the inmates. The county would reimburse them 50 cents for breakfast, $1 for lunch and $1.50 for each dinner."

In the 1960s, a deputy's salary was about $5,000 a year with no benefits. The county was competing with high paying auto security jobs, and it had a difficult time keeping deputies on staff. As his family lived at the jail, Gary knew all the operations. The senior Parks told his son he was needed; Gary became a deputy in 1967.

"It was fun then and it still is," he said. "It's a fun job and they even pay you."

Susan Younger can be reached at (810) 664-0811, Ext. 8122 or susan.younger@lapeergroup.com