Vote To Help Lakewood Police Win Magazine's Police Vehicle Design Contest

Making a Difference.

Simplistic but poignant, this is the motto of the Lakewood Police Department. It's also the centerpiece of the vehicles in its fleet.

That police car (pictured in the media gallery) is one of the entries in the Police Vehicle Design Contest from Hendon Publishing, which publishes "Law and Order Magazine."

The local agency entered the vehicle in the Municipal Over 50 Officers West category. The black Dodge is sleek and can probably give chase to any speedster on the road.

But more important than its looks and capabilities, the car has the department's motto printed on its rear panel. This wasn't the motto when Lakewood Police formed in 2004.

That changed, however, after Lakewood Police Sgt. Mark Renninger and Officers Ronnie Owens, Tina Griswold and Greg Richards were gunned down at a Parkland Forza by Maurice Clemmons in November 2009.

The shootings left a hole in the department, but out of it came a new motto that's a direct tribute to Owens, according to the department:

Family/friends were going through Officer Owens personal and work papers and found a notebook where Officer Owens had simply written “Making A Difference”. This message meant so much to all of our officers and describes what each of them does on a daily basis.

If that's not a reason to vote, it's hard to find what would be.

(Click here to vote the Lakewood in the Hendon Publishing Police Vehicle Design Contest)