The Westport Police Department will become environmentally friendly with the purchase of its first Tesla vehicle.

"We're getting away from the carbon that we keep producing. Westport is the forefront of being green by 2050. This is part of it. I don't think we can keep talking about it but actually not acting on it," Westport Police Department Chief Foti Koskinas says.

Chief Koskinas adds that the electric car has a high-performance value and meets all the safety regulations.

When police cruisers are idle, they release fuel. A Tesla, however, reduces the carbon footprint because it doesn't have any emissions.

Westport First Selectman Jim Marpe says the Tesla purchase is a great opportunity toward making Westport greener and more sustainable. Marpe adds that the vehicle is not just environmentally friendly, but the $52,000 car is also an economically conscious decision as well.

"While the purchase price is higher than the typical police vehicle, the maintenance costs are going to be so much lower," Marpe says.
With this economic shift, Chief Koskinas hopes to steer the town in the right direction.

"I would like to have a fair balance in my tenure as the police chief. For every gas vehicle that we buy, we match it with one electric vehicle, I think that would be a fair goal in my time here and commitment to the community," Koskinas says.

Officers will patrol for one or two shifts and then charge the vehicle, which Chief Koskinas says takes about four hours or less.