Car 54, where are you?
At a time when auto dealers are starved for customers, Nassau County shouldn't have any trouble getting a good deal on police cars - especially on those ever-so-hot Ford Crown Victoria models. Like many showroom visitors, however, the county can't tap into the cash needed to buy the cars.
The past few weeks in Mineola have seen the usual circular finger-pointing over whose fault it is that the 2009 capital budget isn't yet in place. But the legislature should approve the measure Monday. The $117 million budget earmarks $2.5 million for replacement cars, a sum that will buy about 90 of the heavy-suspension, special law enforcement models that are much in need.
The county tries to put 178 cars on the road each day, but that's been a difficult chore because older cars require more repairs. About 100 cars, out of a fleet of 327, are out of service at any given time, up from an average of about 66 in recent years. Some cars have gone down in the middle of shifts, and recently the department was short 11 cars during a particularly cold day.
The case of the aging fleet, however, does have a silver lining: It made the police department take a hard look at all those unmarked Crown Vics sitting in the driveways of the brass who get a take-home car, plus free gas and maintenance, as a perk. About 60 were taken away and are being readied for patrol duty, with the decals and roof racks. Once new cars are purchased, they shouldn't wind up as replacements in anyone's driveway. And just a little suggestion. When you make the next buy, get them to throw in those GPS systems. Taxpayers want to know where their money is going.
Posted Wednesday, January 7, 2009
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