Welcome to Shamu Racing, home of the quickest and fastest multipurpose real police cruiser on the planet! Coming soon to a drag racing, cruising, school function and autocrossing event near you.

Shamu Racing was founded by Lieuenant Chuck Williams in 2005. The team is proud of our affiliation with Beat The Heat, a unique non-profit organization of Law Enforcement Officers and Fire Fighters from throughout the world. This unique program uses drag racing vehicles set up like pursuit vehicles. The vehicles are used to educate our youth about a number of areas of concern such as Drug Abuse, Drinking and Driving, Street Racing and Staying in School. The program also focuses on the concept of teamwork. The vehicles serve as excellent tools in helping to knock down the wall, that on many occasions exist between kids and law enforcement officers, or figures of authority.

GOALS OF Phoenix Police RACE team

• To help EDUCATE the young people of our communities about the real problems of illegal drug and alcohol use
• To EDUCATE everyone to the horrors of alcohol or drug impaired driving
• To promote a better understanding between the Police and the communities they serve
• To EDUCATE the general public about DRAG RACING, and encourage everyone to not race in the street.
  
  
  

Phoenix Police Race Team

The Phoenix Police Race Team is a member of BEAT THE HEAT, INC. which is a non-profit corporation recognized as tax exempt by the State of Texas and the IRS under Section 501(c)(3) of the IRS Code. ALL donations are tax-deductible.

For more information contact:
Lt. Chuck Williams
E-mail: chuck.williams@phoenix.gov
Telephone: 602-495-0613

Cops and Kids

Phoenix PD's race program is a "Cops and Kids" oriented program which brings the young people together with the Police Officers who are there to help them. It gives both groups an opportunity to closely interact with each other so that each group can learn from the other things that will really make a difference for both groups in the community. The theme of our program is "RACING FOR EDUCATION". Three of our four goals state specifically a goal of some kind of education. Many of the problems of our society today stem from the fact that many people are lacking in education. We can only make an attempt with the adults to get them to use their heads and think before they do something. However, we CAN get the attention of the young people and they are very capable of learning. We try to encourage those young people to STAY IN SCHOOL AND OFF DRUGS AND ALCOHOL.

Life After Being a Police Cruiser

Have you ever wondered what happens to retired police cars? Well, most end up on the auction block and in the driveways of area residents. However, for equipment #511942 this was not the case. A plugged catalytic converter generated enough heat to cause a fire the rear prisoner compartment causing instant retirement. Thankfully no prisoners were injured by this fire. This retired police cruiser is a true Phoenix and was brought back from its ashes. This cruiser now hits the local race tracks and auto crossing events as the fastest real ‘Phoenix’ police cruiser in Arizona.

So what is this car you ask? It’s “SSHAMU,” the 1995 Chevrolet Caprice 4-door retired police cruiser. This cruiser was rebuilt to replace our popular Blue By You race car and function as the backbone for the Phoenix Police Department’s Racing For Education program. The idea began when Lt. Chuck Williams realized the old race car program was no longer viable to deliver the program’s message. So, Chief Harris, Commander Yahner and Lieutenant Williams grabbed a retired patrol car and began the transformation process for the purpose of educating the public on safe driving. Realizing it would take an eye catching vehicle to get the point across, the group decided to gather local sponsors to cover the costs of rebuilding the car and transforming it into the quickest and fastest multipurpose Police Cruiser in America! SSHAMU is a fully functional street legal police cruiser and is suitable for drag racing, street racing, auto crossing, cruising, school deliveries, and community crime fairs.

SSHAMU is now equipped with a stroked LT4 engine with 6.2 liters or 396 cubic inches and carries 520 horse power under the hood. This police cruiser runs at extremely fast speeds and all driving is done by qualified drivers on appropriate tracks. This in turn allows young drivers the chance to see how high speed racing can be done safely. The main purpose of this car is to show that racing can be fun as well as safe when done under the proper conditions, and the city streets are not the proper place for racing.

The Phoenix Police Department is overwhelmed by the impact this program has had on the public in such a short period of time. Just recently, SSHAMU has been displayed at shopping malls, sporting events, schools and community crime fairs. The display calendar consists of at least three showings per month. This includes weekend racing usually at Firebird Raceway. Sometimes there are more display requests than days available to display the car.

SHAMU is the name of this race car, but the program is known as Racing For Education. Racing For Education also works closely with Universal Technical Institute and Students Against Destructive Decisions to promote the fact that you can have fun without getting high. Watch for SSHAMU displayed at local community fairs and malls in the upcoming months. And for those of you serious race fans, SSHAMU does take to the track at Firebird Raceway and Speed World during the racing season.

For more information regarding the race program, please contact Lieutenant Chuck Williams of the South Mountain Precinct at 602-534-1000.

Needs Assessment

Please Help us maintain this program through your contribution. We appreciate your support of our ongoing Racing For Education program.

If you would like to donate, please make checks payable to:
City of Phoenix/ R.A.C.E.

Mail checks to:
620 W. Washington St.
Phoenix, AZ 85003 c/o Lt. C. Williams#5647

For more information contact:

Lieutenant Chuck Williams
E-mail: chuck.williams@phoenix.gov
Telephone: 602-495-0613

Below is a list of specific items the team has need for.

The City of Phoenix Police Department does not encourage or promote drag racing, but suggests racing at the track as an alternative to the very dangerous activity of Street Racing!