If the Chester Police Department is going to get anything close to what it was asking for in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year, it will need the help of annual Town Meeting.
The budget that Chief Bill Burke submitted included the expense of leasing two new cruisers and a new Ford Explorer, outfitting them with new security camera systems and trading in the department's aging vehicles to supplement the payments.
Burke had recommended that police keep only the newest vehicle in the fleet — a 2005 Crown Victoria.
However, the Budget Committee did not recommend putting any of the new vehicles or the cameras into the town's proposed $3.4 million operating budget.
Instead, the board reduced by half the request for new cruisers and turned all vehicle and staffing requests into these warrant articles to be voted on by Town Meeting:
$33,483.40 for a cruiser/camera combination
$37,853 for a Ford Expedition with an in-car camera
$10,000 for two in-car cameras for existing cruisers
$61,000 to pay and fully outfit a new full-time police officer, benefits, equipment and uniform included.
The articles joi
Burke said one of the older cruisers, a 2000 Crown Victoria, has more than 140,000 miles on it.
"Usually PDs don't run a cruiser over 100,000 miles," said Burke.
A 2003 Crown Victoria cruiser has more than 110,000 miles and the department's 2000 Ford Expedition has 91,000 miles.
Burke told Budget Committee members that one of the cruisers still in regular use is in need of front-end work and has already been identified as being at risk for probable mechanical failure.
"I don't feel 100 percent comfortable" keeping it in operation, he said.
Budget Committee Vice Chairman Tom LaPorte said the decision not to include the vehicle requests in the budget was made to avoid showing a falsely inflated bottom line, because they are one-time rather than regular expenditures.
"We have essentially 13 people driving the same car ... they are being driven hard, it's the nature of the business," Burke said during a March Budget Committee meeting. He also said he thinks the time the cruisers spend idle and running wears down the vehicles significantly.
Burke said that if the additional full-time officer is approved, it will mean an additional 700 miles a week will be put on the cruisers.
Burke said he is seeking government grants to split the cost of the cameras.
The additional officer would help alleviate staffing and coverage problems, getting the town closer to 24-hour police coverage, Burke said.
