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Rogue River police chief seeks 'fresh horses' for city patrols By SANNE SPECHT for the Mail Tribune ROGUE RIVER - Police Chief Ken Lewis is asking the city for a new fleet of fully equipped police cars. "We have to maintain a constant stable of fresh horses - sort of like the Pony Express," he told the City Council recently. The five-officer department currently owns only one reliable vehicle, Lewis said. The other two are a state-leased 1994 Chevrolet with 75,000 miles and a 1996 Ford with 108,000 miles that Lewis said should not be operated because of mechanical and liability concerns. Lewis stressed that a police car is the officer's mobile office, a place where he conducts more than 75 percent of his business during his shift. "The officer must know to a certainty that when he turns the ignition, activates the emergency lights or siren, keys the mobile radio microphone, or hits the accelerator to respond to a serious crime in progress or a life-and-death emergency, everything that must work will work 100 percent of the time every time," Lewis wrote in his proposal to the City Council. Lewis urged the city to reconsider its policy for acquiring police vehicles. He said buying new vehicles only when the old ones wear out is not working and neither are the cars. With the two older vehicles in a continuous state of repair, the current "reliable" vehicle gets overworked, Lewis said, adding it will reach the end of its effective service life by as much as 30 to 50 percent sooner than necessary. "It is imperative to start with a sufficient number of vehicles at the outset in order for the vehicles to be rotated equally in their usage, so their normal mileage and mechanical wear-and-tear will also be distributed equally," said Lewis. The cost of one new vehicle on state bid, including necessary equipment and installation, will be about $26,000. The cost for three fully equipped Dodge Intrepid vehicles under a four-year lease/purchase contract would be $18,214 per year, or $72,856. The city currently budgets $8,500 for one lease vehicle and $4,000 for vehicle maintenance annually. Under Lewis' plan, maintenance fees should be relatively nonexistent. And at the end of the contract, the city would pay the $1 purchase cost for each vehicle. Lewis estimates a resale value on each fully equipped car to be between $8,000 and $10,000. Once the cars are resold, the money would be put back into the police budget for vehicle lease. "This is the optimum, most cost-efficient police vehicle program I can present to this council," said Lewis, who implemented a similar plan while chief of police in Brookings. "I speak from experience. It was a hard sell, but I think if you call the council members, they'll tell you it worked." Lewis said he reviewed three different types of cars and recommended Dodge vehicles because of fuel efficiency and overall cost per unit. However, he said, to get the cars quickly, orders must be placed for the vehicles by April 12, 2002. The council has not yet made a decision on the plan. Sanne Specht is a free-lance writer living in Rogue River. Reach her at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.