Hybrid Vehicles Help Police Save Green by Going Green explains that Japanese hybrid vehicles, like the Toyota Prius, have become popular with police:
The “Buy American” policy that has long influenced the purchase of police cars and other government vehicles doesn’t seem to apply to Japan’s fuel-stingy hybrids, which can get more than 50 miles per gallon. City and state fleet managers have bought at least 3,000 of them and hundreds more are on order.
The Ford Crown Victoria, a more typical police cruiser, gets about 11 miles per gallon in the city.