KYW Flashback: Philadelphia Cop Cars Go Through Transformation
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - When Philadelphians had to call for police in the 1960's, they wouldn't say "I need a policeman" or "send a cop, quick." It was, "send a red car."
City officers usually rode in pairs and the cars were red.
That had been eating at Police Commissioner Frank Rizzo. He would often tell KYW reporters who got within earshot that the color red belonged to the fire department.
Police, he would bellow, belonged in cars of blue. But he couldn't get his way. Whether because of a nearly 60 year tradition or a budget issue, Mayor James Tate, who was known for a flashpoint temper, didn't want to hear about it.
But by 1972, Frank Rizzo took the oath of office as Mayor. His brother Joe was Fire Commissioner. The two saw eye to eye - or at least said they did.
Within months of Frank Rizzo's inauguration, the red police cars vanished and the blue rolled in.