It’s not quite Christmas yet, however, on Thursday, Dec. 9, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners granted a holiday wish of the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department and approved a purchase order for new patrol cars and other vehicles that the department has had a heck of a time securing in today’s car market.
The board dealt with the matter in the special meeting that was called quickly so that the department could go ahead and purchase the vehicles before another law enforcement agency swooped down and bought them.
The county commissioners held the Dec. 9 virtual meeting at 6 p.m. and, by 6:15 p.m., the board had conducted its business and adjourned. In the end, the board approved purchase orders for 29 new law enforcement vehicles at a cost of just over $939,000.
In June, the county commissioners put the money for new Sheriff’s Department cars and other vehicles in the county’s fiscal 2021-2022 budget. However, unlike in pre-pandemic years, there was a shortage of the specialized cars on the market, and the team at the Sheriff’s Department had to do some scrambling and make calls to dealerships across the country to find the needed cars. Even though the Board of Commissioners had approved the money in the budget, the board still needed to approve a purchase order.
Guilford County Sheriff Danny Rogers attended the online meeting to answer any questions – though it became immediately apparent that the commissioners didn’t need anyone to convince them to buy the cars. Each year, the department gets some new vehicles to replace the ones that age out.
Guilford County Sheriff’s Department Captain Aldous Heron told the commissioners that the automobiles are driven hard due to constant quick acceleration, chases, sitting and idling for long periods and so on. He said the department likes to sell off a vehicle once it hits 100,000 miles but lately it’s been using them until they hit 150,000 or 160,000 miles. Heron said that, after that number of miles, a car becomes a safety concern for officers as well as for the civilians driving on the road.
Would be even more enthused if the city purchased some ELECTRIC squad cars and put charging stations around the station houses. Business as usual isn’t good enough.
Hey tuna remember EVs require charging that comes from power plants ie coal natural gas or nuclear all which harm the environment so there again pick your poison Just remember the batteries used in EV cars have a short life and recycling is very expensive
Electric vehicles as police cars? I can see it now. . . . .chasing a suspect in the county, and then the battery slows and so does the car, requiring the officer to call a tow truck. Well, at least the thought of using less carbon footprint was a win for the planet, and am sure the crook was laughing as he sped away.
When someone starts manufacturing one, maybe they will. Right now there is no such animal. The closest thing in existence at the moment is a hybrid SUV. Just any car won’t do, there are special certifications & accommodations with a pursuit vehicle. There is also a very high electrical demand from all the necessary equipment, making the effective range of any electric vehicle plummet. Having personally worked incidents for up to 29 hours straight, regardless of any perceived time constraints, it would suck to finally start to go home only to realize the shiny new electric wonderwagen had a dead battery miles away from any type of charging mechanism. One day maybe, but we’re just not there yet.
Until the power goes out for a week and you can’t charge them. Takes too long to charge them during a shift. Single charge doesn’t last a full 12 hour shift. Ever wonder why Duke Energy still buys new gas and diesel trucks, when electric ones are available.
Wish our city council would approve cars for GPD. Makes the Sheriffs Department with their higher salary and benefits look more appealing. Let’s see how the No cost recruitment and retention plan works out. (And not a five year phase in; with the current attrition how many people will be gone in five years).