After Police Chief James Viadero started work heading the town's law enforcement agency early this year, he assessed the police department's rolling stock and decided that the 2007 truck known as the "command vehicle" was looking its age, he explained this week.

So the chief asked Sergeant Aaron Bahamonde, the department's administrative sergeant who oversees the fleet, to have the command vehicle both spruced up and brought up to modern standards.

The problem was that no funds had been budgeted for command vehicle modernization.

The sergeant nevertheless pursued the task and learned that the firm which outfits police cars for the police department would be willing to make various upgrades to command vehicle without charge.

So the problem was solved, the chief explained.

Most obvious among those changes was altering the external appearance of the Ford E-450 Super Duty truck. To correspond with the black and white color scheme of the police cars which the department has acquired during the past several years, the command vehicle's colors are now black and white, with black being the dominant color, plus gold lettering. Previously, the truck was mostly white, with blue trim and gold lettering.

Robert Waugh, president of Nu-Age Warning, LLC, of Seymour, which outfits police cars for the police department, presented the improved command vehicle to police on March 29. Police store the vehicle in sheltered space adjacent to the police station to be keep it out of the elements.

Although the vehicle is nine years old, it only has several thousand miles on its odometer, so with proper care and maintenance it can remain in service for many years.

Sgt Bahamonde explained that the command vehicle upgrade work included the new paint job, improved graphics, improved electrical and electronic systems, and enhanced emergency lighting. Those changes are intended to have the vehicle meet current standards, he said.

"We're ecstatic…We can't thank him enough," Chief Viadero said of Mr Waugh's work to bring the vehicle up to current standards.

The vehicle was away for about three weeks while receiving upgrades.

Among its uses, the command vehicle serves as a mobile office when police conduct major crime scene investigations. It is used at major motor vehicle accidents.

Police also use the truck for major training events. Additionally, police display the vehicle at public events to showcase the police department's capabilities.

The seven-ton vehicle has a 7-kilowatt generator. The computer-equipped truck holds a variety of two-way radio equipment that allow town police to communicate with many other government agencies.

Communications "interoperability" is an essential aspect of such a command vehicle , whose approximately $98,000 initial price was covered by a grant from the US Department of Homeland Security and by drug assets forfeiture funds. Farber Specialty Vehicles of Columbus, Ohio, fabricated it.

The vehicle can carry up to eight people. The truck is equipped with two lighting masts, allowing it to illuminate the scenes of nighttime investigations and nighttime sobriety checkpoints.

Police took delivery of the command vehicle in early 2007 and outfitted it across the course of a year.