Published: 07/25/2007 Mayor orders immediate replacement of 5 cruisers By Katie Farrell Staff writer
AMESBURY - Mayor Thatcher Kezer announced yesterday that he has ordered police Chief Michael Cronin to immediately replace five police cruisers, saying the cars presented "serious safety concerns." The police have nine frontline cruisers - five marked and four unmarked. In recent weeks, Kezer said, three frontline vehicles were taken out of service because of system failures, frame damage and unsafe conditions, and about two or three more are in "imminent danger" of being taken off the road. One cruiser lost its electrical system while responding to a domestic violence call, and another lost its engine during a chase on the highway, the mayor said. "It came to be a matter of public safety," Kezer said. "They (the cruisers) can only be pushed so far, and then they fail." Five of the nine vehicles have logged more than 119,000 miles, and one cruiser has topped 137,000 miles, Kezer said. "The vehicles frequently idle at crashes, traffic stops and crime scenes, adding as much as fifty percent greater wear and tear than is indicated by the odometer," Kezer wrote to the Municipal Council in a letter sent yesterday. Faced with soaring maintenance costs, the mayor said, it was more cost-effective for the town to replace the cruisers now than to continuously repair the deteriorating vehicles. The town spent $46,731 on maintenance last fiscal year, which ended June 30. The new cruisers will all be marked or painted with the Amesbury police decal. The cruisers are being leased by Ford Motor Co. and will cost a total of about $43,000 a year during a three-year lease agreement. The cruisers have been ordered and will be delivered over the next couple of weeks. The money will be taken from the police expense budget. At the end of the three years, the town can pay to purchase the cars. The cars will be under warranty, Kezer said. The police will work to "make up as much" of the $43,000 as possible during the current fiscal year, Kezer said, before determining if a transfer is needed in the budget. Chief Financial Officer Michael Basque said yesterday the police are "confident" that a large portion of the savings will come from lower maintenance costs for the cruisers. Kezer cited past budget cuts as the reason for the state of the cruisers. The mayor said yesterday that budget cuts have prevented the police from sticking to a vehicle rotation schedule. In other years, the town operated on a replacement schedule of three cruisers one year and two the next.
"It's been a year and a half without any new cruisers," Kezer said during a press conference yesterday. As a result of the new purchase, the police fleet's backup cruiser will no longer be needed. Older cruisers will be rotated and given to detectives and used for positions that require less demanding "wear and tear" services, Kezer said.
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