Constable Punto

The Police station at Leichhardt in Sydney takes on cosmopolitan flair with the addition to its vehicle fleet of a Fiat Punto 1.9 MultiJet 130 Sport hatch.

Exactly why is a little hard to figure, even if Leichhardt Local Area Commander Superintendent Wayne Cox says the Punto will be a "way of building rapport between young people and police" through being used for community policing by the crime management team at Leichhardt local area command.

Superintendent Cox says that, although the baby Fiat gets the full police-car decoration, it won't be used for normal police work.

He suggests the new cop car will provide a "talking point from which we can discuss road safety and break down any barriers that may exist."

Fiat national marketing manager Ross Meyer says the Punto police car - not the first car to be provided to law enforcement authorities by Fiat and Alfa Romeo in Australia - is part of a programme that assists "Australian police forces with the provision of cars for their road safety and crime prevention work."

According to Fiat, Leichhardt community members can expect to see the Punto travelling to shopping centres, attending local schools and fetes and appearing at community events such as the Glebe St and Norton St Fairs.

All this may be selling it a little short.

The Punto's sheer compactness would surely be helpful for pursuing vagrant electric wheelchairs, or even apprehending cyclists not wearing helmets - not to mention nailing errant baristas in this heavily Italian inner suburb who've skimped on the caffeine.

And if the Leichhardt police find themselves short of a pursuit vehicle, the Punto could conceivably fill in; the 96kW/280Nm turbodiesel is actually quick off the mark, as well as more nimble than your average V8.

Definitely not the thing for highway patrol use though.