The TV show “Cops,” which follows real-life law enforcement officers as they perform their duties, has seen commercial success and has been running for a few decades now. The show often featured intense encounters and arrests, as well as some high speed chases, some even ending in disaster. Mostly, the cop cars in pursuit are capable of catching the criminal no matter how fast they are going. And this, in no small part, is because police vehicles can be very fast.

For the most part, police departments across the United States deploy a diverse array of motor vehicles depending on their specific enforcement or operational needs. While each serves a unique purpose, certain makes and models that have emerged as the fastest are widely used for high speed pursuits and similar operations.

24/7 Wall St. reviewed various state and police sources to determine the fastest American police cars. For each vehicle, we included horsepower, top speed, manufacturer, and body style. Vehicles are ranked by top speed. Only police cars that have widespread use across the country and top speeds exceeding 100 mph were included. 

Among the most common patrol vehicles is the Ford Police Interceptor Utility, which boasts some of the highest top speeds of any of the cars on this list. Built on Ford’s Explorer SUV platform, it allows officers to handle various terrains and weather conditions. One of the stock designs comes with a 3.0-liter EcoBoost V6 engine that can generate up to 400 horsepower and a top speed of nearly 150 mph, making it one of the fastest police cars on the road. (See the most widely used American police cars.)

Another vehicle in heavy use is the Dodge Charger Pursuit. Opting for power under the hood, one stock model is equipped with a 5.7-litre HEMI V8 that cranks out up to 370 horsepower. It features a top speed of around 140 mph. Its aggressive design has given it somewhat of a reputation on the road for chasing down cars and makes it a popular choice among law enforcement nationwide. (These are the states with the most militarized police departments.)

It is worth pointing out that most of the vehicles on this list come from only a handful of manufacturers, but mainly Ford. Large police departments, municipalities, and states are offered deals by Ford and other domestic manufacturers to outfit their agencies with these vehicles.

Here is a look at the fastest police cars that are most widely used across police departments in the U.S.

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