Departments Reconsidering Take-Home Car Policies
Bowling Green also has a successful take-home vehicle program, and rising gas prices are not expected to greatly impact it. Officers take home their vehicles each night, and that is seen as a significant advantage by city residents. “There are too many benefits at this point for (the department) to reconsider the program,” Lewis says. “The ability to respond to an incident directly from their homes and the benefits of having that visible law enforcement presence in neighborhoods is worth the extra few hundred dollars a month.”
The Alachua (Fla.) County Sheriff’s Department also has a long-established take-home vehicle program that involves part of its fleet of more than 400 law enforcement vehicles. But in April, the cost of the department’s fuel was more than $90,000 – the highest monthly fuel cost in the department’s history – and something needed to be done, according to Public Information Officer Art Forge.
Now take-home vehicles can no longer be used for anything other than trips to work or a fitness center. Forge says this measure is expected to save the department a few thousand dollars each month. “If that doesn’t cut the costs as much as we need to, I’m sure the concept of our take-home vehicle program will be revisited or there may be some other changes made,” Forge says. “We’re seeing how big an impact this will have on our bottom-line.”
The bottom line is staring the Redlands (Calif.) Police Department in the face, even as it has significantly reduced its gas consumption. The Redlands PD has cut back its take-home program from 78 to 50 vehicles based on the location of where officers live and their rank and position, says Gary Van Dorst, the department’s quality of life director. The take-home vehicle cutback could help the Redlands PD reduce the amount of fuel consumed by as much as 20,000 gallons this year for a total of 60,000 gallons, compared with the 82,131 gallons of gas consumed in 2007. However, with gas prices $1 or more higher than the average $2.90 the city paid for gas last year, the actual money spent on gas could still rise. “And we don’t know how much further the price of gas will rise this year,” Van Dorst says.
Some Nonessential Cars are Being Eliminated
The Alachua County Sheriff’s Department has also eliminated vehicle use for some law enforcement positions, such as sworn or nonsworn bureau chiefs and some corrections employees. Any nonessential department vehicle use will also be eliminated or closely monitored. Forge says this will help reduce not only fuel costs but other maintenance expenses. “We have to look at other ways to cut our (fleet-related) vehicle costs across the board to help offset rising gas prices,” Forge says, “even if these strategies aren’t directly tied to the use of fuel.”
Bicycle patrols are also seeing a resurgence. In many ways, these patrols can be even more effective than the typical motorized vehicle in urban or densely-populated and traveled areas. Now both small and large communities are reconsidering their bike patrol strategies.High gas prices forced Hollidaysburg, Pa., Police Chief Jeff Ketner to reinstitute regular bike patrols earlier this spring once the weather warmed. It was one of the strategies Ketner used to deal with the fact his department was $6,000 over budget. “That’s not an insignificant amount of money for us,” Ketner says. “Plus, there are so many advantages with using bike patrols.”
