The Bargersville Police Department in Indiana made headlines back in 2019 becoming the first police department in the U.S. to add a Tesla Model 3 to their fleet of patrol cars.
Now they have crossed another first off the list, this time becoming the first police department in the world to have a Tesla Model Y K-9 unit.
Bargersville Chief Todd Bertram shared pictures of the new K-9 unit and patrol car with our friends over at The Tesla Life. The photos show the new police dog Dax with his handler, K-9 Officer Lamping, both looking very happy in becoming the first K-9 unit in the world to drive around in a Tesla.
Not only are they the first in the world, they are also Bargersville’s first K-9 unit.
Their first day of duty together in the Model Y was September 12, 2022.
In an interview with Drive Tesla, Chief Bertram tells us this new Model Y was specifically purchased and retrofitted for K-9 use with a special compartment in the back seat to keep Dax safe while attending to calls.
Not only will Dax be kept safe while driving to calls, Officer Lamping will also be able to keep Dax comfortable when he has to stay in the car until he is called into action with Dog Mode.
Following extremely positive results from their first Tesla patrol car in 2019, which saved the department nearly $7,000 in the first year when gas prices were nowhere near what they are today, they have since expanded their fleet of Teslas.
Chief Bertram tells us his department now has ten Tesla patrol cars, equally split between five Model 3s and five Model Ys, making it the largest Tesla police car fleet in the world.
The next closest could be Thailand, which add a fleet of seven Model 3 Performance cars back in 2020, and we have yet to hear that they have added more.
To keep their fleet of Teslas charged up, the department has installed Wall Connectors at their new headquarters.
