More Torontonians prefer the classic white Toronto police vehicles to the new grey cars selected by Chief Mark Saunders, according to a new poll.

Last month, Toronto police announced the service would gradually be replacing its current fleet of white Ford Crown Victorias cruisers with dark, metallic grey Ford Interceptors, a model and colour some have criticized as less visible and more aggressive.

Saunders has defended the cars as visible — “Police” is printed in highly reflective decals on all four sides — and said Torontonians will get used to the new look, just as they did when the police force changed from yellow to white cruisers in the 1980s.

According to a Forum Reseach poll of a random sampling of 757 Toronto voters, six in 10 of those polled were aware that Toronto police were changing the colour of the vehicles.

Among that group, almost six in ten prefer the current white cars (56 per cent), while just over a quarter (27 per cent) prefer the new dark grey cars.

Of all poll participants, 33 per cent approve of the current white cars, while 16 per cent prefer the new dark grey cars and six per cent did not like either one. Five per cent weren’t aware of the colour change or didn’t have an opinion on it.

Toronto police have said the decision to change the cars will not cost the city any extra money, because the current fleet of cars would have to be replaced anyway. There are approximately 500 cars in the Toronto police service fleet, and the average scout car has a lifespan of about 4.5 years.

About 80 cars will need to be replaced this year.

Asked on CBC’s Metro Morning Monday how and why he made the decision to change the cars, Saunders said “there was just a moment when I did it, there was no deep thought in it.”

Speaking to the Toronto Star’s editorial board Tuesday, Saunders said unofficial testing of the new car had produced positive feedback, but “in hindsight, I would have asked more public opinion on that.”

Asked if he would consider halting the changeover to the new cars, Saunders said: “You know, I never say never.”

The interactive voice response telephone survey was conducted Oct. 24. Results are considered accurate within four percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

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Forum stores its complete results in the data library of the University of Toronto's political science department.

Wendy Gillis can be reached at wgillis@thestar.ca

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