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For Release: July 17, 2002 CNN
Presents 'In the Line of Fire' Explores Risk to Police Officers Driving Vehicle Model with Back-end Fuel Tank
In the last six years, 12 people -- eight of whom were police officers -- have died in fiery rear-end crashes involving the nation's most popular police car: Ford Motor Company's Crown Victoria. The victims found themselves trapped inside this police cruiser as it burned after the crash ruptured the fuel tank. CNN Presents takes a look at this macabre irony in its documentary "In the Line of Fire," in which Ford gives its first network television interview on the controversy. "In the Line of Fire," is scheduled to premiere Saturday, July 20, at 8 p.m. and to replay on Sunday, July 21, at 7 p.m., 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. on CNN/U.S. (ET). Eighty-five percent of police cars are Crown Victorias. The one-hour investigative report focuses on this high performance vehicle, one of the few models in which the gas tank is mounted behind the rear axle, extending up to the trunk area. A statistical analysis study performed for Ford found that of 149 makes and models, the Crown Victoria police cruiser has the second worst record for all fire-related fatalities, involving rear-end accidents that occurred in the last decade. Ford contends that it is the high-risk nature of police work that often puts officers in harm's way. In "In the Line of Fire," CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti reports on Arizona highway patrol officer Juan Cruz, Florida deputy sheriff Steven Agner and others who never made it out of their cars. She also profiles several survivor stories, including that of Phoenix patrolman Jason Schechterle, whose face and hands melted away in a car fire after a taxicab hammered his Crown Victoria patrol vehicle from behind. After a two-and-half-month doctor-induced coma and multiple operations, Mr. Schechterle considers himself one of the lucky ones. Ford says its vehicles meet or exceed federal crash test requirements, but after another police officer died in Arizona in June, Ford promised to start new tests, although the company offered no guarantees safety solutions would be found. Police officers and attorneys representing victims argue that if an officer survives a crash, the gas tank should hold together, and he or she ought not burn to death. Additional information on "In the Line of Fire" will be posted on CNN.com this week at CNN Presents' companion page located at http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/presents/index.html. CNN, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., an AOL Time Warner Company, is one of the world's most respected and trusted sources for news and information. Its reach extends to 15 cable and satellite television networks; three private place-based networks; two radio networks; wireless devices around the world; 12 Web sites, including CNN.com, the first major news and information Web site; and CNN Newsource, the world's most extensively syndicated news service. CONTACT:
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