Daily Independent (Ashland, KY)

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September 20, 2012

Catlettsburg accepts bids for new police cruisers

Kenneth Hart The Independent

CATLETTSBURG — The Catlettsburg Police Department is getting some new vehicles.

The city council on Tuesday voted to accept Boyd County Ford’s bid of $23,949 each for four 2013 Ford Police Interceptor cruisers. That’s a total expenditure of $95.796.

The new cars will replace four worn-out cars in the department’s current fleet, police Chief John Justice said. The newest vehicle the CPD has are four 2009 models, and those will remain in service, he said.

Justice told the council Boyd County Ford’s per-vehicle price was only about $400 more than what the city could purchase them for under state contract. Plus, he noted, buying them through the state would require the city to pay for overtime to send officers to Frankfort to pick up the cars, plus the fuel costs.

In addition to the costs for the new cars themselves, Justice said it would take about $800 to equip each vehicle with a barrier between the front seat and passenger area and a special console. That money will come from the sale of surplus vehicles, he said.

The Interceptor is Ford’s replacement for its long-time fleet vehicle, the Crown Victoria, which the company has discontinued. It’s based on the Taurus, and is something of an anomaly among police vehicle because it’s not rear-wheel drive. Law-enforcement agencies generally prefer rear-drive vehicles because front-wheel-drive cars often have a tendency to oversteer, particularly at high speeds.

Ford’s discontinuation of the “Crown Vic,” as it’s commonly know, left U.S. agencies that used those vehicles with three basic choices for replacing them — the Interceptor, the Chevrolet Caprice — a car available only to the law-enforcement market — or the Dodge Charger. The Caprice and Charger are both rear-wheel-drive cars. The Kentucky State Police, which had used Crown Vics since the early 1990s, recently announced it was switching to the Caprice.

After evaluating each of the available options, Justice said he believed the Interceptor would be the best option for Catlettsburg.

According to Justice, the Interceptor is available in both all-wheel-drive and front-wheel-drive configurations. The cars Catlettsburg will be getting will be all-wheel-drive, he said.

One advantage the AWD vehicles will offer is better fuel economy, which should help the city save on gasoline costs, he said.

Justice told the council the police department would take delivery of the new vehicles about three months after placing its order with the dealership. During that time, the city will explore options for financing the cruisers.

The chief said Kentucky Farmers Bank had offered to finance them at a rate of 2.9 percent. He said he thought it was unlikely the city would find a better deal than that.

KENNETH HART can be reached at khart@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2654.

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