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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Vern – Thank you very much for the
research and explanation. You raised some points that I certainly hadn’t
considered – the idea of police wishing to have a little distance from
the workplace and explaining how officers contribute to fuel costs. And, having
seen personally the excellent response time of our police force, I am conscious
of the need for maintaining the department’s efficiency and of course
retaining the best officers. I am completely satisfied with the direction you
have been taking on this issue.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Lisa Grob<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>From:</span></font></b><font size=2
face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'> towntalk-bounces@riverdale-park.org
[mailto:towntalk-bounces@riverdale-park.org] <b><span style='font-weight:bold'>On
Behalf Of </span></b>Vernon Archer<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Wednesday, July 02, 2008
1:09 PM<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> TownTalk<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> [RP TownTalk] Police take
home cars</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Friends and neighbors,<br>
<br>
I was asked by Jenna Edwards to provide the general home locations of
police officers that are provided with take home vehicles. Attached you
will find a short spreadsheet with the localities where such officers
live. In short, we have one command officer and two patrol officers that
live outside the 30 air miles that allow for direct work to home travel.
Outside the 30 mile limit, patrol officers are required to find a public safety
facility (police station, fire house, etc) to park their vehicles and drive a
personal vehicle the remaining distance home. <br>
<br>
Having provided this raw information, I would like to review some of the often
overlooked reasons why we use the model of police management that includes take
home vehicles. I am only going to address the issue as it regards patrol
officers which are 15 in number. The 3 command officers
are on 24/7 call and their car assignments could only be called
into question if the patrol officers situation changed. <br>
<br>
To start, our primary goal is to have the best trained, seasoned, and
knowledgeable officers engaged in active patrol or responding to calls for
service. Every dime we spend on the police is to achieve this goal. Using
the take-home/one car-one officer model (THM) of vehicle allocation gives us a
substantial increase in the time an officer is available for service. THM
officers arrive at work ready to begin work immediately and, in fact, often
have no need to report to the police station. Departments that ask
officers to change vehicles as they report require a minimum average of 15
minutes at the beginning and ending of a shift to execute the change. <br>
<br>
A very conservative estimate of how much time we gain in officers on the street
is 1100 staff hours per year (.5 hrs per shift x 3 shifts per week x 49 work
weeks x 15 officers) our current average total cost of salary, insurance, and
benefits for an officer is $34 per hour. Thus we get productive policing
valued at $37,000 per year that we would not otherwise get. One might compare
this to the total gas and oil budget for the police department of $90,000. <br>
<br>
We also estimate that an average officer's round trip to work requires about
2.5 gallons of gas at $4.3 dollars per gallon (the town pays substantially less
than this now--$3.70 at last purchase--but I'm being conservative in this
estimation) meaning the fuel cost of the THM is $23,700. Officers currently pay
$15 per pay period, totaling $5850 per year. So the net fuel cost is
$18,900, or about half what we gain in time on the job.<br>
<br>
There is also the question of wear and tear from the increased mileage on the
vehicles. This is more difficult to quantify, but officers know when they
receive a vehicle that this is their car, this is where they are going to spend
a huge amount of time. All the information I can gather suggests that officers
take good care of their vehicles. Vehicles that are traded between
officers in a non THM force tend to have a lower resale value, and or higher
maintenance costs. Again making a conservative estimate, we assume that
there is no clear advantage or disadvantage based on this factor. <br>
<br>
That is where we are now.<br>
<br>
Based on desires expressed during the budget cycle I worked with Police Chief
Chambers to make recommendations to change the way officers supplement our fuel
costs. I am going to recommend that officers that live within 3 air miles
of town be excused from paying any fee at all. There are two such officers
now. All other officers fees will increase to $22.50 per pay
period. This will increase the total officer contribution to $7600.<br>
<br>
Based on the Town Talk discussion up to this point I am impressed by the idea
of looking into incentives to encourage officers to live in or very close to
our town. After town staff is able to investigate and report on models
and programs currently available the council may choose to enact such incentive
programs.<br>
<br>
However, I know that many police officers do not want to live too close to
where they work for a variety of reasons. Some officers simply want to be
away from their very stressful job when not on duty--officers who live in their
jurisdictions are never really off duty. <br>
<br>
Further, officers work to interdict criminal activities, and this makes them
prone to be the brunt of retaliatory actions. Many officers want to put
some distance between their spouses and children and the locations where they
confront criminals. <br>
<br>
Not to get too personal, but as the official responsible under the Town Charter
with seeing that the law is enforced in the town I can understand why some very
good officers might not want to live real close by. <br>
<br>
I hope this information is helpful and best wishes to all,<br>
<br>
Vern<br clear=all>
<br>
-- <br>
<st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Vernon</st1:place></st1:City> Archer,
Mayor<br>
Town of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Riverdale Park</st1:City>, <st1:State
w:st="on">Maryland</st1:State></st1:place> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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