Agenda Packets - 2011/02/11 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Squad Car Purchase Report February 14, 2011 Page 2 The current fleet of police vehicles consists of seven marked and fully equipped squads used primarily for call response, traffic enforcement and prisoner transport. There are also three unmarked/administrative cars and one marked public service officer vehicle for a total fleet of eleven vehicles. The police department does not have a four wheel drive vehicle within the existing fleet. Past winters and particularly this current winter season has presented challenges in the ability to effectively patrol and respond to emergency matters due to the difficult snow and ice conditions. The addition of a 4 wheel drive vehicle would provide more reliable mobility during these challenging winter conditions. The department did have a 4 wheel drive Blazer issued to the Police Chief during the 1990’s that was successfully used during snow storms to assist in the mobility of the street patrol officers. It is of the utmost importance for the police to be able to respond to any emergency, as the officers are the first responders to any medical, fire or law enforcement emergency. Situations have already occurred this season where a timely response was somewhat of a challenge due to the winter conditions. A vehicle properly equipped with emergency equipment would enable a safe and quick response under nearly any weather situation. For the best all around use, a four-wheel-drive sport utility vehicle (SUV) capable of transporting prisoners, animals and any needed equipment would best serve the needs of the community. Some of the more commonly purchased SUV’s used by law enforcement are outlined in the table below: Vehicle & Price Setup Cost & Graphics (estimated) Total Cost 2011 Ford Explorer - $23,829 $3988 $27,817 2011 Ford Expedition - $26,713 $3792 $30,505 2011 Chev Tahoe - $29,186 $3792 $32,978 To highlight some of the specifics in these three listed SUV’s, the Ford Explorer, while the least expensive, is also less conducive to conversion for police patrol use. This vehicle comes with a center floor shifter making any equipment setup problematic. This vehicle is also smaller with less overall passenger room. Comparing the Chevy Tahoe with the Ford Expedition, the Expedition has slightly less interior driver and passenger room, although actually being slightly larger in the overall exterior size. The Tahoe is rated at a city driving fuel rating of 15/mpg, with the Expedition rated slightly lower at 14/mpg. Although the Tahoe is approximately $2500 more, it has been selected by more law enforcement agencies due to a higher comfort level and better long term operational cost. The Tahoe is also offered with a 5 year/100,000 mile warranty at no additional cost compared to the Ford 3 year/36,000 warranty. Considering these various factors, the Tahoe seems to have advantages over the Expedition. In order to compare with other metro area suburbs, the following table indicates which jurisdictions currently have black and white designs and/or a four wheel drive vehicle as part of their fleet: