DALLAS (AP) - Ford Motor Co. is expected to provide the city with information about the safety of Crown Victoria police cars, the city attorney said Thursday.

Dallas sued Ford for the information in December, two months after a city officer was killed when his Crown Victoria was hit and caught fire. At least 12 officers have died nationwide since 1983 in Crown Victorias, which police groups say are prone to erupt in flames when hit from behind at high speeds.

The city's lawsuit is pending against Ford, filed in December to force Ford to provide information about the vehicle's fuel system.

But Dallas City Attorney Madeleine Johnson said Ford will provide testimony relating to safety issues from depositions to be held in Cleveland over the next few weeks.

Ford spokeswoman Kathleen Vokes said the depositions already were planned and Dallas officials opted to participate.

"We've been sharing information with everyone," she said. "The Crown Victoria is a safe vehicle."

The depositions are being held in conjunction with pending suits from Arkansas, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Texas that have been consolidated before a U.S. district judge.

Ford says the Crown Victoria is one of the safest vehicles on the road, and that the problem is with how it is used.

The city wants information on crash testing on Crown Victorias equipped with gas tank shields. Detroit-based Ford announced in September it would pay to retrofit police-issued Crown Victorias with the shields, but the city is investigating whether such shields are effective, the petition stated.

Dallas officials also want information from Ford about "bladders," or sacks that protect fuel from igniting.

A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigation in October did not find a defect in the Crown Victoria. The agency said the rate of fires was not much greater than with Chevrolet Caprice police cars.

Also this week, a police group filed a lawsuit claiming Ford failed to fix a defect that can cause Crown Victorias to catch fire when hit from behind.

The National Police Association, which represents more than 1,000 police unions around the country, filed the lawsuit Wednesday in New York.

Last month, State Trooper Robert Ambrose died when a sports-utility vehicle rammed into his Crown Victoria. The lawsuit cites Ambrose's death and seven other similar accidents.

Vokes said the suit was "totally meritless."