Montgomery PD | https://www.montgomeryil.org/139/Police
Montgomery PD | https://www.montgomeryil.org/139/Police
The Montgomery Village Board of Trustees considered two proposals during its April 24 meeting for vehicles in its police fleet, one measure tagging many of the current fleet as surplus property and another approving the purchase of new squad cars.
Trustees noted during the session, which was streamed on YouTube, that by approving the proposal to tag the vehicles as surplus property, the village could sell them off at auction to recoup some of the money, an effort that can be done as they obtain replacement equipment. The age of vehicles in the fleet varies, according to Public Works Director Mark Wolf, who attributed it to the impact of the pandemic.
“There was a period of time during COVID where we weren't able to replace vehicles due to a lack of being able to find vehicles,” he explained during the meeting. “So, our squad cars are set for a shorter lifespan just because of the based basically the nature of what they perform day in and day out. So, the 2019 are the cycle that would be up that we're coming into fiscal year 24 to be replaced. So that's why those are there. The older vehicles are again, we hold on to much longer than we typically do.”
Wolf noted during the meeting the department generally gets rid of police vehicles based on their age and usage, and not when they hit a specific number of miles. He explained this is because the cars may get excessive use from sitting and idling a lot, resulting in wear and tear, even if the miles don’t add up.
Trustees also approved the purchase of eight new four-wheel drive Ford Explorer police cars from Sutton Ford for $357,488 during the meeting.
The council asked whether the cars would come ready to hit the road. The department will have to install some additional equipment, such as communications and cameras, it was noted during the session.
The police department and board were happy to have new vehicles on the way, a purchase delayed due to supply chain issues with chips that left vehicles in short supply, it was noted during the meeting.
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