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GREENSBORO — The business of protecting and serving is gradually becoming one that looks to be conserving.

Area law enforcement agencies, along with their counterparts in fire and emergency medical services, are doing what they can to conserve fuel and other energy to save the environment and taxpayers’ money.

For police agencies, that means shifting away from Ford Crown Victoria patrol cruisers to more fuel-efficient vehicles such as the Dodge Charger.

“It’s got a V-8 engine, and once you get to the Interstate (and reach a cruising speed), it will shut down to a 4-cylinder,” said Trooper Chris Knox of the N.C. Highway Patrol . “It’s a better vehicle with a gas-saving feature and puts out less emissions.”

The Charger gets 17 miles per gallon in the city and 24 on the highway, compared to the Crown Victoria’s 14 miles per gallon in the city and 21 on the highway.

The Guilford County Sheriff’s Office has replaced 56 Crown Victorias since 2005 with Chargers and estimates the switch has saved 230 gallons of unleaded gasoline per vehicle annually. That is tens of thousands of dollars in savings for taxpayers, the sheriff’s office says.

The sheriff’s office also has a departmentwide fuel conservation effort that mandates that all patrol deputies park their vehicles at least 10 minutes every hour to save fuel, when calls for service allow.

The Greensboro Police Department also is looking to switch to more fuel-efficient cars, and it made a fuel-saving change to its motorcycle fleet in 2009 with the purchase of two Honda ST1300P motorcycles to replace two Harley-Davidsons .

Some other agencies that purchased Honda motorcycles reported spending as little as 50 cents per mile driven.

Greensboro spends about $1.16 per mile to buy and maintain each of its Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

Greensboro police also have replaced outdated computer systems in patrol vehicles with Panasonic Toughbooks, which are laptops that run on batteries.

Before, the car’s engine had to be turned on to operate the computer, which wasted fuel as officers typed reports. The new computers have docking stations inside the vehicles that charge the batteries while officers are on patrol.

“We are getting almost twice as much (vehicle) mileage with these laptops compared to the old units,” said Anita McCoy, network services manager for the police department.

At the Greensboro Fire Department, new fire stations planned in the coming years will incorporate green efforts, said David Douglas, assistant fire chief.

That includes solar panels, energy-saving fluorescent lighting and building materials that provide better insulation and energy conservation.

Contact Ryan Seals at 373-7077 or ryan.seals@news-record.com