The first horseless patrol vehicle was an electric “paddy wagon” complete with headlights, a stretcher, a cage for prisoners, and a gong that acted as a siren. It appeared on the “mean” streets of Akron, Ohio, in 1899. One of the first official motorized “police cars” wouldn’t appear for another decade, when, in 1909, Police Commissioner Frank Croul in Detroit bought a Packard for $350 using his own money.