The City of Arkadelphia, Ark., has lowered its budget costs by 3% by replacing its aging fleet of Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptors with Toyota Camry Hybrid police cars, according to Toyota.

The 10 Camry Hybrid cars have been getting about 27 mpg in all-city driving compared with about 12 to 14 mpg for the Crown Vics. The city has seen its fuel costs fall and has also been able to reduce maintenance costs. The agency spends an average of $2,500 per month to maintain each Crown Vic.

The agency has been using the Camy Hybrids since 2010, and not all of the agency's officers have embraced them.

"I was dead set against it," Officer Don Cleek told Toyota. "To me, a police car is supposed to be rear wheel drive, V-8 and can go through ditches."

Chief of Police Al Harris was initiallly reluctant to use the Camry Hybrids, but agreed to the initiative from City Manager Jimmy Bolt after a test drive.