Sgt. Jim Butler has always been a car guy.  He’s owned his share of hot cars, from ‘Cudas and Road Runners to Z/28 Camaros.  His latest car, a 1993 Corvette, is no slouch, and he’ll race you to prove it.  Legally, of course.

Butler, a St. Albans, WV police officer and K9 handler for 20 years, is a participant in Beat the Heat.  To quote Sgt. Butler, “Beat the Heat is an international non profit organization made up of active and retired police officers, firefighters and emergency service personnel who use specialized police race cars as tools to reach out to young people.”

Riding shotgun is Sgt. Butler's K9 partner, Deuce. "100 pounds of dope sniffing, bad guy chasing, siren loving German Shepherd."

Beat the Heat members take their highly visible cars to schools and race tracks to deliver the message, “In school, being cool means staying drug and alcohol free” and “On the street, being cool means taking your fast car to the track to race.”  The message seems to be leaving a big impression on aspiring hot-shoe high schoolers, as evidenced by this recent news clip:

About the Car

The St. Albans Police Department Beat the Heat car is a 1993 Corvette Coupe purchased in 2006 by Sgt. Butler specifically to participate in the Beat the Heat program.  Sgt. Butler has made the white C4 available to the city at no charge. The car is stock except for an SLP Cold Air Induction system, C6 replica wheels and some appearance parts, all from Corvette Central. On street radials and using the stock 2.59 rear gear, it has run as quickly as 13.9 seconds in the quarter mile. Sgt. Butler’s plans for the Corvette include lower gears, headers and a Corsa exhaust.  To help deliver Beat the Heat’s message, the car sports a new SpeedTech Lighting LED light bar and siren.  Butler added that the Corvette has been used for traffic enforcement on occasion.

To learn more about Beat the Heat, visit them on the web at www.BeatTheHeatInc.org .

Thanks to Sgt. Butler for contributing images and information to this post!

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