Charging up Raider Pride

RAINA BARNETT/Alachua County Today
Santa Fe High School resource officer Robert Howell traded in his standard design Alachua Police Departmenet squad car for this fire engine red model. The car, which sports Santa Fe High School colors, is one of a kind in the City of Alachua's law enforcement fleet, and is popular with the local school's student body.

ALACHUA – The Santa Fe High School Raiders have a new 2014 Dodge Charger to showcase their school spirit as of Friday, April 29.

The Alachua Police Department (APD) suffered a loss to their squad car fleet in a car crash several months ago but was able to purchase the Charger at a price that matched the budget after insurance was collected.

“We set out to look for a replacement car,” said APD Public Information Officer Jesse Sandusky. “We didn’t have money left in the budget to purchase a brand new car, so we had to use what money we were able to get from the insurance. The car was previously going to be for a fire chief in south Florida, but it matched the price we were looking for.”

The car is red, and at first, the department did not know where a red car would fit in with the others.

“We just kept thinking, 'What are we going to do with a red car?'” Sandusky said.

They came up with the idea to assign the car to the school resource officer at Santa Fe High School, Robert Howell. The original car at Santa Fe was then taken and put on the road to join the other APD vehicles.

For a final touch, the car was detailed in a Santa Fe Raiders theme.

“The city manager agreed, and we thought it was a great way to show pride for school spirit and build a positive relationship with the school and community,” Sandusky said.

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