NORTH OLMSTED, Ohio -- For the second straight year, the North Olmsted Police Department is purchasing two new Ford Explorer Interceptors. City council is expected to authorize the $65,508 expenditure through state bid pricing from Lebanon Ford.
“We replace from within our fleet every single year,” Police Chief Bob Wagner said. “We’re going to take two vehicles that are in the worst shape.”
This year that includes 2014 and 2015 Ford Explorer Interceptors. The former has 118,000 miles; the latter is at 114,000 miles. Once the new vehicles arrive this spring, the older models will be repurposed for use by the building department.
The purchase is coming out of the hotel/motel tax fund, which accounts for the city’s 3 percent hotel-motel tax receipts. Wagner noted each new Interceptor will require an additional $8,000 to properly equip it for the road.
“It comes with some things that are already in there, but for the most part all of the equipment we’ll purchase separate and put into the car,” Wagner said.
“Normally prices for all of our equipment goes up 2 percent to 4 percent a year, but this year we’re actually spending about $500 less per vehicle compared to last year because we’re doing more stuff in-house with our fleet maintenance.”
Before any equipment purchase is made the city looks to transfer equipment -- prisoner seats for the rear of the vehicle, a cage, different lights, computer and in-car video system -- from the old vehicles to the new.
The North Olmsted Police Department currently boasts 14 vehicles along with a pick-up truck.
The chief said the city’s love for the Ford Explorer Police Interceptor model is based on price and warranty.
“Ford’s warranty is outstanding,” Wagner said. “As a matter of fact, we just had one of our vehicle engines blow with 98,000 miles on. We got a brand-new engine for that car, which would have been out of warranty at 100,000.
“These vehicles just take a beating. Some of these cars have all of these miles but they also have high idle time on their engine hours. They work great for us. We did take a look at Chevy Tahoes, which were a little bit higher priced. We just like the Ford Interceptor.”
While not too long ago the police department was purchasing five patrol cars annually, Wagner credits the city’s fleet maintenance crew for extending life of its fleet vehicles.
“It’s just the nature of the beast,” Wagner said. “Vehicles need to be replaced. It’s a necessary purchase that we budget for every single year.”
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