Tucked inside the city of Longmont’s $414.25 million operational budget, is the key to recruiting and keeping new officers for police services, say officials.
Police are asking for $1 million in one-time funding and up to $300,000 to cover ongoing costs to start a program that allows uniformed officers to take their patrol cars home with them after their shift is over.
Longmont is one of the few cities that require officers to take their own private vehicles home with them after the work day is over. The policy is putting the city at a disadvantage when it comes to bringing in new recruits into the fold, David Moore, assistant chief over the detective division.
“I’d say 80% of departments on the Front Range let officers take their patrol cars home and that has a real influence on whether a recruit wants to come to Longmont.” Moore said. “We are way behind the eight ball on this one.”
“It has really become a huge issue for us, even more than in the past,” he added. “Some officers like the city, like the pay, but once they find out they can’t take their patrol car home, they say ‘Nope” and go somewhere else.”
Moore helped develop the idea for a take home program, pinning the advantages on cost savings and safety.
People with grudges against an officer can take photos of an officer’s private car while it is parked at police headquarters or even place a tracker on the car to find out where the officer lives, Moore said.
“It’s just one of those cases, where if a person has a grudge with an officer, it can become a safety issue for the officer,” Moore said.
There is a lack of efficiency in the current practice of keeping patrol cars at police headquarters, according to officials.
Patrol officers are now required to carry up to 20-to-30 points of equipment in their vehicles. It takes at least 30 minutes before and after an officer’s shift to transition equipment in and out of their patrol vehicle.
“This change will allow Public Safety to minimize the lost time in the transition and have officers on the street more quickly,” a staff report to the city council states.
An officer also shares the vehicle with another officer on another shift. This often leads to more wear and tear on the vehicle, resulting in a four-year turnaround for most vehicles.
Having one officer to one vehicle will cut down on maintenance costs, Moore said. “The cost savings will come with one vehicle lasting twice as long as they did previously,” he said.
The city council is expected to vote on the proposed budget in October.
