Print

Email story

Comment

Letter to the editor

Take-home cars may be cut

Budget trimming may alter the policy for police and city cars.

By JONATHAN ABEL, Times Staff Writer
Published February 6, 2008

ADVERTISEMENT Clearwater police Chief Sid Klein said having the take-home car procedure allows for quicker response to any calls for police assistance.

CLEARWATER - City take-home cars may be a target for budget cuts when the Clearwater City Council takes up the issue Thursday.

At a workshop Monday night, council members heard the report of a city auditor who said Clearwater spends about $374,000 per year in gas and mileage for police officers to commute to and from work in their take-home cars. About 30 percent of the mileage on take-home cars comes from commuting.

According to auditor Robin Gomez, there are roughly 180 take-home vehicles in the city, about 150 of which are assigned to the police department. And 44 of these officers with take-home cars are commuting to homes outside the county.

One of Gomez's recommendations was to charge these out-of-county commuters 50 cents per mile for the distance between their homes and the Countryside substation, roughly the northeastern corner of the city. He said this could recoup about $172,000 per year for the city.

But police chief Sid Klein argued against "dismantling" the current take-home system.

"When something goes terribly wrong citizens want a cop there and they want a cop there very, very fast," Klein said. "And we have been able to accomplish that in large measure because of the take-home vehicle program."

The city's current policy allows officers to drive their cars home if they live within 20 miles of the city boundary. That includes parts of Hillsborough and Pasco counties. The two officers with cars who live outside that boundary must leave their cars at a safe location within the 20-mile zone.

Klein said the take-home vehicles allow officers to respond to crime scenes more rapidly because they don't have to stop at the police station to change gear. He also called the take-home vehicle policy "very, very important" for recruitment and retention.

As far as charging out-of-county commuters, Klein said it was unfair because an officer living in Tarpon Springs or St. Petersburg might commute farther than someone living in parts of Pasco or Hillsborough but only the out-of-county commuter would be charged for the mileage. That could result in officers spending as much as $2,700 per year out of pocket.

He suggested charging officers to make it to the county line.

The city council seemed undecided on how to proceed. They plan to continue their discussion at their Thursday meeting.

Mayor Frank Hibbard said Tuesday he would try to find a reasonable solution but didn't want to say how he was leaning.

"We want to have a good place, a competitive place for our police to work," Hibbard said. "We also have to make sure that we're being wise with our tax dollars."

City Manager Bill Horne said his initial recommendation was to require reimbursement from officers who left the county. After the workshop, he said, his sense was that "some of the council members want to be more restrictive than that."

Officers are permitted to do very minimal personal business in their take-home cars. When they are in the car, they must respond to serious calls and dress appropriately.

One of the reasons given for the take-home cars is they allow for a swifter after-hours response from officers called in from home. But Gomez's audit showed the majority of take-home cars were rarely used for such after-hours work so that explanation was not significant enough to justify the number of vehicles.

In addition to the police department, Development and Neighborhood Services has one vehicle, which costs the city a minimal amount. The fire department has 12 take-home cars, one of which is driven outside the county. The Clearwater gas system has 22 take-home vehicles. Gomez recommended taking away five vehicles from the gas system.

Jonathan Abel can be reached at jabel@sptimes.com or (727) 445-4157.

180 take-home cars.

150 assigned topolice officers.

44 officers with take-homecars live outside Pinellas County.

30 percent of all mileage ontake-home police cars comes from commuting.

$374,000cost to the city per year in gas and mileage for police officers to commute in their take-home cars.

[Last modified February 5, 2008, 22:17:26]