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HOUGHTON -- The Houghton Police Department now has a brand new police vehicle.

The vehicle is called an Interceptor, and it's a new design from Ford made specifically as a police vehicle. The Houghton Police Department says because of the hills throughout the city, an all wheel drive vehicle was needed, especially during the winter.

"We want to make sure that when our officers, when we have to respond to a call or we get into a situation where we're in a chase, that pure vehicle's going to stay on the road," said Houghton Police Chief John Donnelly. "And being a pursuit-rated vehicle is important as far as officer safety so that we're not injuring the officers or anybody else that we could hit if we lose control of the vehicle."

The police department also received a ballistic shield which is a part of a Region 8 Homeland Security grant. The shields will be distributed to the various police departments throughout Houghton County.