Miami Police car gets cool artsy makeover
It’s a police car that fits right in with Wynwood’s artsy street vibe.
The Miami Police Department recently gave a decommissioned patrol car a colorful makeover with graffitilike deep blues and purples, various shapes and a bright orange side mirror light. There’s also a half-opened eye on the hood.
The car made its official debut during National Night Out at Clemente Park,101 NW 34th St., but it also will be rolled out at art-related community and school events in the graf-fitidistrict. On social media, the car is known as#MPDartcar.
Miami police commander Dan Kerr who works out of the Wynwood and Edgewater district said he had wanted a vehicle that could serve as a bridge between police officers and the neighborhood’s street artists.
“Wynwood was built on these guys’ abilities,” Kerr said. “If it wasn’t for them, the neighborhood wouldn’t exist.”
Miami Cuban-American artist Abstrk, who has a background in graffiti, decorated the vehicle. It’s a 2009 Ford Crown Victoria that was formerly driven by a sergeant. The car, which has 70,000 miles on the odometer, bears the city’s seal and carries the traditional five police stripes along its side.
Kerr said the makeover cost $8,000andwas a partnership between the Wynwood Business Improvement District, the Miami Police Athletic League and Goldman Global Arts. Local businesses such as Creative Customs, Miami Auto Art and a neighborhood Marathon gas station also donated goods (sound system, body work and rims) to the project.
The car is already turning heads.
“You can’t drive that car through Wynwood without somebody jumping in front of you to take a picture because it’s so dynamic,” Kerr said.
Down the road, he would like to have local artists customize the car’s interior to possibly make it a mobile photo booth where residents and tourists can hop inside and take selfies.
“I want it to represent the city of Miami, the city of Miami police and our embracing of the culture in the neighborhood,” he said. “My goal is to park it at schools and on [Northeast] Second Avenue in Wynwood and have people come up and talk to the cop.”
Miami Cuban-American artist Abstrk, who has a background in graffiti, decorated the vehicle.