The Toronto Police Service wants you, or at least your opinion as it seeks help finalizing the design and colour of its new patrol cars.

But don’t set your hopes on seeing officers driving flourescent-yellow or fire-engine red cars around Toronto streets anytime soon.

The online survey Torontonians are asked to fill out has only five options: white, silver, grey, dark blue and black.

Perhaps the police service was worried about another Boaty McBoatface.

Or is this latest exercise in public engagement more in line with auto legend Henry Ford’s reputed comment that Model T buyers could have any colour they wanted “so long as it’s black?”

“Five paint choices are shown from an infinite number of choices available in a colour palette,” Michael Felip, a retired Toronto police officer, wrote in an email Wednesday. Felip is responsible for the original design of the white patrol cars that replaced yellow cruisers back in 1988 – a move he recommended after reviewing colour studies and safety research.

“Is the survey designed to point the public in a certain direction?” he wrote. “Did anyone think of approaching a design studio or university or graphic arts school and propose they come up with a new look based on creativity, safety, visibility and police traditions.”

The public is being presented with a limited colour choice for a reason, said Toronto police spokeswoman Meaghan Gray.

“The cars have to be a reflection of the Toronto Police Service, which is why the questions are not open-ended but rather a selection of design options have been put forward for the public to choose from.”

Cruiser colours leapt onto the public radar last fall after Chief Mark Saunders made the arbitrary decision to switch the colour of the force’s cars from the familiar white, blue and red cruisers to dark grey with white reflective lettering.

Outrage followed. Critics called the choice too “stealth,” “aggressive” and “militaristic.” Experts said emergency vehicles need to be highly visible – lime yellow, for instance, not camouflage grey. Toronto is not the only police service to come under fire for replacing its aging fleets with cars painted in darker hues.

City council and the police civilian oversight board told Saunders to put the brakes on the conversion, and he did in November, calling the controversy his biggest regret of 2016.

Last week, the police service posted an internal poll inviting member feedback on design choices. One thousand employees have responded so far, Gray said Wednesday.

This week, the service issued a news release inviting the public to complete an online survey and “influence the next design of frontline cars.”

“The Toronto Police Service has more than 700 cars used for frontline policing and as they reach the end of their lifecycles, they need to be replaced,” the release said.

The results of an internal and public on-line survey will be “collated” and included in a report to the board next month, Gray wrote in email.

Councillor Shelley Carroll, who sits on the police board, praised the service for posting the on-line survey in an attempt to correct Saunders’ “mistake” last year of acting without community – or board input.

However, she also questioned the “bland” colour offering when many European law enforcement agencies paint their vehicles in highly visible lime yellow or Day-Glo green.

Carroll said the board may still ask the service to seek feedback from other police departments’ on their choices of front-line vehicles.

The survey also asks the public which characteristic they would most like the new-look cruisers to project: professionalism, visibility, community-orientation, authority, forward thinking or reassurance.

Mayor John Tory, also a member of the police board, said he is pleased the service has a “better process in place that is more transparent than before.”

“I just hope that people take part in it, if they have a view on this, and that they do it in a serious matter,” Tory said Wednesday, adding he has no particular colour preferences.

“It’s not a joking matter, the colour and visibility of police cars so people can see them, especially when they need help, is a very important matter.”

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

But inviting input from the public can lead to embarrassment.

Last year, Britain’s Natural Environment Research Council held on online vote to name a new British polar research ship. The name Boaty McBoatface was the winner. But the red-faced government backtracked and opted for RRS Sir David Attenborough. Instead, one of the research vessel’s remotely operated submarines will carry the name Boaty McBoatface.

With files from David Rider