[RP TownTalk] Town Police "Take Home" Cars

[Alice Ewen Walker]

Town Council recently requested that the police assemble policies from
adjacent areas so that we could compare and review  this benefit.
(Attached.) It does vary, but the practice is pretty common. It's part of
the total compensation picture in competing for recruits, so keeping roughly
in line w/ other departments is a consideration.
- Alice

On Mon, Jun 9, 2008 at 7:11 PM, Jenna Edwards <repvet2004 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> With the ever increasing price of gas I believe that our police "Take Home
> Car" program has grown beyond the point of what is now reasonable for our
> Town to sustain.I recently overheard some of our police officers talking
> about the subject while I was picking up food at one of our local
> carryouts.Apparently our police officers drive a Town police vehicle each
> way to work up to a 30 air mile radius of the Town.That could work out to
> 1,200 miles a month or 14,400 miles a year just for the commute on the
> taxpayers dime.This is very troubling as we all struggle to put gas into our
> own vehicles but fund this abuse with our tax dollars.Maintenance costs such
> as tires, oil, brakes ,etc. add additional costs.I also overheard laughing
> from the same police officers stating that some officers drive to Delaware,
> Pennsylvania, and Virginia.These locations appear to be beyond even the 30
> air mile radius.I understand that police "Take Home Cars" boost police
> visibility and provide an additional resource in the police officer's
> jurisdiction.The idea is to use them in their own communities and
> jurisdictions not hours away or in another state.I have no problem with our
> police officers who live in Riverdale Park having a "Take Home" Town police
> vehicle because I believe residents benefit.Further police officers have no
> authority when they leave their own jurisdictions except to act on a very
> serious Felony.I have learned that the County Police may not take there
> assigned police vehicle out of  their jurisdiction - Prince George's
> County.Some very large police departments such as Baltimore County  have no
> such program at all.Our police vehicles apparently have very large 8
> cylinder motors which further raise fuel costs.Has the Town explored other
> options for patrol such as smaller cars, more bike patrols, small
> motorcycles, electric patrol vehicles, etc. to reduce fuel and fleet
> expenses.I believe that  this topic  warrants  a full review and  policy
> changes by our elected officials.
>
> Jenna Edwards
> Somerset Road
>
>
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-- 
Alice Ewen Walker
Councilwoman, Ward 1
Town of Riverdale Park
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