A $4.2 million proposal to purchase 59 new vehicles over the next three years as part of a program to allow Longmont police officers to take their patrol cars home with them was pitched to the city council this week.
David Moore, assistant chief of police over the detective division, told councilors the take home program will allow one officer to keep a patrol car over eight years, longer than the current four year limit. That move will cut depreciation costs and result in an annual savings of $200,000.
“The initial investment of $4.2 million will be recuperated through savings over time,” Moore told councilors, who have been reviewing the city’s proposed $414 million budget.
The take home program will save time between shifts and officers will not be off the streets to exchange vehicles. An estimated 13,398 hours a year are spent on officers ending and starting their shift by loading and unloading equipment into their police vehicle, Moore said. There are also refueling and inspection delays by sharing a police vehicle with another officer, he said.
By allowing officers to maintain their own vehicle and take it home, would result in $500,000 in “soft savings” for the city, Moore said.
At least 80% of cities on the northern Front Range allow officers to take the vehicles home with them and Longmont is losing applicants and officers to agencies with take home policies, Moore said. The city hired 21 officers this year but lost 22 at a cost of $1.9 million to the city, Moore said.
A survey indicates that 87% of current Longmont officers would utilize a take home car program, he said.
To get started, police services wants the city to purchase 20 vehicles to be funded through $1.44 million from the general fund and $570,000 from the public safety fund, Longmont CFO Jim Golden told the council.
Golden said he is hopeful the program can be funded over the next three years. “But there are no guarantees,” Golden said. “But our goal is to get this in place.”
