With the Ford Crown Victoria retired after over 30 years of dutiful service, the market for police vehicles is wide open. GM was hoping to capitalize with an Australian-built rear-wheel drive sedan called the Chevy Caprice Police Patrol Vehicle, which is in high demand but short supply around the country.

Some police departments are up in arms, waiting over a year for delivery of their Caprice PPV’s reports the duPont registry. The problem stems from shipping and dealership delays, and police departments aren’t happy.

Of the five Florida police departments that ordered Caprice PPV’s for testing, only two, Tampa and Largo, have received their cars. The Tampa department got their Caprices after 10 months; it took GM almost 13 months to deliver cars to the Largo department. Police chiefs are understandably worried about GM’s ability to deliver the cars in a timely fashion, when Dodge is often able to deliver their Charger police cars in two to three months.

Many departments are slashing budgets for fuel and vehicles, and with new offerings from all three American automakers, police departments have unprecedented choice in outfitting their fleets. GM could be shooting itself in the foot, having reportedly made last-minute design changes that kept suppliers from making parts until the last minute.

But word on the street is that the Caprice PPV, with its 6.0 liter V8, is the quickest and fastest of the current cop car offerings, and fairly fuel efficient as well. Is it good enough to overcome GM’s missteps with the initial rollout, though?