Cruiser concerns: Aging fleets spend time in the shop instead of on patrol

LIMA — Sheriff Al Solomon is unable to purchase a new patrol car this year, thanks to a budget crunch that is taking no prisoners.

“Up until last year, we purchased two new cruisers on a rotation basis each year,” the Auglaize County sheriff said.

Now Solomon, like many other sheriffs, is faced with an ever-aging fleet of cruisers that have more than 150,000 miles. That type of mileage takes a toll on the vehicles, which many departments run around the clock.

Sheriffs and police departments in the region said the budget crisis has hit their agencies in many ways, including their ability to replace aging cars. It’s something they all say will catch up soon and lead to more costly problems.

A ticking time bomb

The Lima Police Department has 19 marked cruisers, of which 11 have more than 100,000 miles. Police cruisers typically get about 150,000 miles before police send the cars to auction, Maj. Tony Swygart said.

“Maintenance just outweighs usefulness once they get to that point,” Swygart said.

Maintenance aside, Allen County Sheriff Sam Crish said he is more concerned about safety when it comes to older vehicles. Sheriff’s cruisers frequently are put to the test, traveling at high speeds when deputies respond to emergencies, he said.

That abuse takes a toll on cars. That concerns Crish, especially if something breaks that could jeopardize the safety of one of his deputies or the public, he said.

“We don’t want a vehicle that has faulty brakes or is having trouble with the transmission,” Crish said. “We don’t want to be driving vehicles on the road that are unsafe. We ticket people for that.”

Good ol’ days gone

Several years ago, Putnam County Sheriff Jim Beutler struck a deal with commissioners to purchase four cars a year. He started a rotation in which he kept three and gave one to the county to use for a year before returning it to the Sheriff’s Office.

The following year when four new cars came, Beutler continued the rotation, he said.

“All they had to do was maintain my fleet, and I would see that they had a brand-new car,” he said.

That ended when money became harder to come by after the floods that hit the county two years ago, he said.

That’s when Beutler began looking into a federal government program that allowed him to save up to $5,000 per car, a program other agencies have since used.

Beutler, whose agency has 15 patrol cars, was able to purchase two new cars this year and last year, which helped despite being half the cars he normally received, he said.

The rotation helped keep down maintenance cost, he said.

“You can always tell when you get more miles on them, your maintenance cost goes up,” he said.

Lima Police Deparment has not received a new car in two years, although plans are in the works, including though federal grant money, to get at least one car this year, Swygart said.

“Ideally, we would replace about three a year. It’s been a while since we’ve been able to do that,” Swygart said.

Allen County has a fleet of 10 patrol cars and used to receive four new cars each year. That didn’t happen this year or last, Crish said.

“Next year we’re going to have to have cars. At some point in 2010, we’re going to need cars,” Crish said. “If we don’t get cars in 2010, what we have here, we’re going to be putting a lot of money into them, and it’s money not worth putting into a car.”

Allen County spent $81,565 on vehicle maintenance last year. Crish expects that number to be similar this year. But he also expects that number to grow as his fleet ages, he said.

Making it work

In Van Wert County, which has been hit exceptionally hard by the recession, the Sheriff’s Office has had to make due with less for several years now.

“We run our cars up to 160,000 to 180,000 miles, which is the norm, sometimes more than 200,000,” Sheriff Stan Owens said.

The Van Wert County Sheriff’s Office has six patrol cars. Of those, three have more than 118,000 miles, Owens said.

Instead of the 150,000-mile limit, Putnam County’s Beutler said his department has no other choice but to push the mileage toward 200,000. Beutler just hopes the $18,000 he was given for maintenance this year is enough.

“When you start running them for that length of time, there’s a lot of mechanical components that start going,” Beutler said.

The mileage Putnam deputies put on cars varies because of the shifts they work. Deputies range from 25,000 to 50,000 miles each year, Beutler said.

Allen County has been taking its high-mileage patrol cars, typically those with more than 100,000 miles, and making them unmarked cars that detectives, for example, use before sending the cars to auction at 150,000 miles, Crish said.

“We had a pretty good cycle going,” Crish said. “What we’re faced with right now, we may go over 150,000 miles if the vehicle will hold up.”

Scarce money

Owens has money for one new cruiser this year, he said.

“I don’t anticipate any more than that. Commissioners are saying there is a $550,000 shortfall for 2010,” Owens said.

Owens said he has been lucky, so far, in avoiding pricy repairs.

“We try to run a good maintenance program and keep them serviced,” he said. “We’re sitting OK right now.”

Owens’ agency does not employ a mechanic, instead opting to use local garages. As of Aug. 1, Owens spent $13,873 on vehicle maintenance.

Van Wert deputies put 40,000 to 60,000 miles on a car each year, and his agency gets three to four years out of a car, Owens said.

Maintenance cost is something Beutler said he worries about, especially with the tight budget in recent years.

“Eventually, it’s going to catch up to us,” Beutler said. “We’re not hurting right now, we’re maintaining. We’re doing OK for the time being, but it will take a few years to catch up, and it probably will.”

The Auglaize County Sheriff Office used to get at least two new cruisers each year.

The Allen County Sheriff’s Office will receive one new patrol car this year from money it received by selling other cars at auction, Crish said.

The problem in Allen County, as well as other counties, is finding the money when other departments, as well as the public who will have to pay the bill, are hurting.

“Right now we’re stuck with what we have now. We have no choices,” Crish said.

Crish said next year will be when everything comes to a head.

“If we start having problems with vehicles and say you have vehicles you just can’t fix, there would be less vehicles on the road, and we probably would have to double up officers,” he said.

Partnering officers would cut down on the response the department could provide, Crish said.

Miles come quickly

Solomon said his deputies put an average of 65,000 to 75,000 miles on a car each year responding to calls and while on patrol. Deputies use the newer vehicles more because of reliability, but those newer vehicles quickly are becoming high-mileage cars, he said.

Solomon has nine cars in the fleet with most well more than 100,000 miles and some approaching 200,000. He would rather replace the cars before the repair costs exceed the value of the cars.

“The problem is now that we’re out of that two-year rotation, it’s going to put us back,” he said.

Swygart said his agency puts 25,000 to 30,000 miles on each car a year, which adds up fast. Recently, the department had to replace an engine in one car and transmissions in three others, he said.

“We’re just taking a beating on maintenance cost,” he said.

Lima Police Department has a maintenance budget of about $82,000 a year, Swygart said.

“We’re going to exceed that in about a month. Three quarters of the way through 2009, we will exceed that,” he said.

That means officals have to find a way to come up with the money. This year, luckily, gas prices have been lower, which will free some money for maintenance, Swygart said.

With tough times, Swygart doesn’t anticipate receiving money for cars, so he’s searching for other avenues, such as grant money.

Lima Police Department has not put a new cruiser on the road in two years but has two cars on order. They should have received them last year, but some complications with one automotive company filing bankruptcy required the department to change the order and delay the purchase by about a year. Swygart hopes his agency will have the cars soon, he said.

“The only reason we’re getting these is because they were approved a year ago,” he said.

A new police car costs about $20,000. To equip a car, the cost can rise by $10,000 if new equipment is needed. Most agencies use Ford Crown Victoria cars, which are similar year to year, allowing equipment to easily be exchanged.

Ways to save

Solomon has created selective patrols in Auglaize County, placing deputies in certain areas typically where more crime occurred. That keeps miles down instead of driving around on patrol, but the risk is leaving areas of the county without patrols, he said.

“We don’t like to do that because that’s not fair to everyone in the county,” he said.

Owens also has selective enforcement targeting higher crime areas, which is something he began doing when gas prices spiked two years ago, he said.

Owens also asked his deputies to try to limit mileage to 75 miles per shift.

“If we don’t have that many calls for service, they’re sitting stationary or out on foot. And when we sit, we try to sit in problem areas,” Owens said.

Beutler has his nighttime deputies park the car for 20 minutes each hour when they can, especially because the night shift does more patrolling than responding to calls, he said.

Lima Police Department also “cannibalizes” older cars, something Swygart said he hasn’t seen happen in the nearly 23 years he’s worked at the department.

“The reality is the parts would cost us as much or more as we’re going to get at auction or trade-in,” he said.

Allen County also relies on its mechanic, Mike Bilo, to say when it’s time to ditch a car. Bilo has been good with spotting problems early and performing maintenance or making a decision to get rid of a car, Crish said.

“Our mechanic saves us a lot of money,” Crish said.

Solomon also grabs parts off old cars to save money.

Every car that has exceeded its lifespan and is on the way to an auction will be checked for parts that can be used, such as tires that may have been changed 5,000 miles earlier and still have a lot of life, Solomon said.

Crish said such cost-savings measures are only a temporary fix. It still boils down to a lack of money. That lack of money will ultimately force the issue.

“We’re starting to see a little bit of vehicle mechanical problems,” Crish said. “It’s creeping up slowly.”