With sirens blaring and tires burning, the Police Department's blue and white radio patrol cars have been a staple of television, the movies and the gritty world of real New York City life for 23 years.

That is about to change.

Commissioner Howard Safir announced yesterday that to save $1 million in painting costs, the department's 1,600 blue and white Chevrolet Caprice patrol cars would be phased out. White cars with dark blue and green stripes, the colors of the department's flag, will be phased in from early 1997 to 2000.

The logo on the sides of the cars will also be changed, from "NYC Police" to what officials consider the more stylish "NYPD Police." Since Chevrolet is discontinuing the Caprice, the department will probably fill its fleet with Ford Crown Victorias, a model the department now uses mostly for unmarked cars.

The new colors are the latest changes in the look of the department. In the last two years, the familiar powder-blue shirts and .38-caliber revolvers have disappeared. Those changes were to improve morale and firepower. Dark blue shirts, Commissioner William J. Bratton reasoned, would hide the coffee and doughnut stains and inspire more respect. And 9-millimeter handguns meant officers were less likely to be outgunned by criminals.