Centerville police hope new squad trucks save department money
It won’t take long before you notice the difference — it’s a drastic one too.
“We’ve give our officers the capability of responding, even when they’re off duty,” Lt. Phillip Pritchett says.
At $38,000 a piece, officers in Centerville have a new way of getting around the city.
“It’s something to take pride in. It’s your stuff, you organize it the way you want it,” Officer Christopher Scuderi says.
The Chevrolet Tahoes are equipped with everything the department’s old cars had, with more room.
“It’s more secure. It’s wider, it has a wider wheel base. If I do get hit from behind or the side, I feel like I’m going to be a lot safer in this versus the little cars that we were in prior,” Scuderi says while sitting in his assigned Tahoe.
Those ‘little’ cars were costing the department thousands of dollars in maintenance repairs, a big concern for Lt. Pritchett. That’s why the department used the $500,000 in its budget for the new upgrades — not to mention the old squad cars were constantly in use.
“A car is run for a 12-hour shift and then immediately one officer gets out and another one gets in,” Pritchett says.
“We were constantly having different problems with the vehicles as far as some of the equipment that we really didn’t have any control over,” Sgt. Brandon Smith says.
There are now nine new Tahoes on the lot, with four more coming. There’s also four Ford Crown Victoria sedans for the department’s police director, criminal investigations unit, and code enforcement — a car for every officer.
“Leave straight from the house, hop in the car, turn the lights and sirens on and get to wherever we need to get to in a hurry,” Scuderi says.
“It’s something that they have that’s reliable, that I don’t have to worry about their vehicle breaking down on them. From a patrol commander’s aspect, it’s a morale booster for the guys,” Pritchett says.
He calls it a boost in morale and efficiency.
“If a major event were to happen in the city of Centerville, they would have an easier way of responding,” Pritchett says.
A better option to keep the community safe.
“It makes our job easier and it makes us be able to provide a better service to the community,” Smith says.
Officers won’t be allowed to use the vehicles outside of when they’re on the job and when they’re heading to and from work. The city is expecting the next batch of vehicles to come in the next couple of weeks.
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