Though its motor pool may not be quite as exotic as some you might find around, say, the Persian Gulf, the police in Italy have had some pretty sweet sets of wheels at their disposal. Now the state police have added another, but it's easily among the least exciting.

It's the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross, which was just announced as the latest recruit to the Italian Carabineiri. Not that we have anything against the compact crossover, it's just that it has some rather more enticing stablemates in the motor pool is all.

Among the vehicles pressed over the years into the service of Italy's paramilitary national police, we've seen such high-speed pursuit vehicles as the Lotus Evora and Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio. And their counterparts in the Polizia di Stato even have a Lamborghini Huracan at their disposal.

That leaves the Mitsu looking rather ordinary by comparison. Though it draws its name from the Japanese automaker's beloved little sports car, the Eclipse Cross is a mass-market, budget-oriented crossover. In North America, it comes powered exclusively by a 1.5-liter turbo rated at 152 horsepower and 184 lb-ft of torque, mated to a continuously variable transmission.

European customers will also soon be able to get a 2.2-liter diesel version as well. But either way, it's a far cry from the 263 hp offered in the last Eclipse (discontinued in 2011) – let alone the 345 hp in the Carabinieri's Lotus or the 600 horses in the Polizia's Lambo.

That puts it more in league with the various Alfas, Fiats, Lancias, Jeeps, and Land Rovers the Carabinieri have had at their disposal. And we're sure the law-enforcement officials will put the Eclipse Cross to good use. It just may not be up to chasing down Italian supercars on the Autostrada.