Hollister city council authorizes $214K for police vehicles
The Hollister Police Department will use grant money to purchase
six new cars to augment a fleet that has not been updated for more
than six years.
Hollister city council authorizes $214K for police vehicles
The Hollister Police Department will use grant money to purchase six new cars to augment a fleet that has not been updated for more than six years.
The Hollister City Council recently authorized the use of nearly $214,000 from the Supplemental Law Enforcement Services Fund to buy the 2009 Crown Victoria Police Interceptors. The department’s fleet of patrol vehicles includes 26 marked cars – two of which are set aside as spare vehicles and three of which are permanently disabled.
Police Chief Jeff Miller said the oldest car in service is a 1996 model, and there are several cars with mileage exceeding 90,000.
“Some cars are so worn that it is no longer fiscally prudent to repair them,” Miller said in a report to the council.
City Manager Clint Quilter added, “We’re pushing the limit on them” mileage-wise.
Rather than assigning its patrol cars as “pool cars,” which can put a car in service for nearly 170 hours per week, the Hollister Police Department assigns cars to each of its 21 patrol officers and patrol sergeants individually, meaning each vehicle is used between 40 and 55 hours per week.
“Through such individual assignments, the serviceable life of the patrol cars is extended beyond the usual two to three years,” Miller told the council.
In an interview with The Pinnacle, Miller said that police cars used every day typically start to break down around 70,000 miles.
“Ours are driven 40 hours a week or so, so the cars do get a rest,” he said. “The patrol car is an officer’s mobile office. They are able to set up the trunk and the interior of the car in a manner that fits that particular officer. They get to know their car, its limitations, how it feels when it drives. Because of that, they’re able to handle it better and they take better care of it; they take pride in it.”
The department plans to purchase the new, black-and-white patrol cars through Tiffany Ford of Hollister for approximately $24,000 each. Emergency radio equipment will be added to the vehicles by Eden Radio Inc. of Salinas, which equips and maintains the current local fleet of police cars. That cost per car will be just over $8,700.
The purchase of the graphics for each of the new cars will cost $179, after a one-time $65 set-up fee, Miller said. Autoline Collision of Hollister will place the graphics on each car for $185 per vehicle. The total price for each car will end up being about $33,000.
Miller said the police department will work with the city’s vehicle maintenance staff to determine which of the current fleet of police cars should be retired and sold at auction.
