ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com BY NANCY COOK LAUER | WEST HAWAII TODAY ADVERTISING HILO — Hawaii County should have a small fleet of marked police cars, but it’s not cost-effective to keep more than the limited number needed to transport prisoners or drive
BY NANCY COOK LAUER | WEST HAWAII TODAY
HILO — Hawaii County should have a small fleet of marked police cars, but it’s not cost-effective to keep more than the limited number needed to transport prisoners or drive on unimproved roads.
That’s the recommendation of Police Chief Harry Kubojiri, who says the current fleet of 33 vehicles, purchased for $1.97 million in 2009, have cost more than $129,029 in maintenance as of Dec. 31.
“There is no doubt in my mind that the visibility of a marked vehicle is a good deterrent,” Kubojiri told West Hawaii Today. “(But) the economy being the way it is, the marked vehicles actually do cost more than the subsidized vehicle program.”
The first of the county-owned marked police cars, a mix of 2008 Ford Crown Victorias and 2008 Ford Expeditions, cost about $56,000 apiece. But when the next wave of vehicles arrived in March 2009, the cost rose to $62,000 for the sedans and $67,000 for the sports utility vehicles.
That’s $20,000 more than county officials estimated such vehicles would cost in 2006 and almost twice as much as vehicles obtained by other police departments.
Most police officers have resisted using county-owned cars, preferring to have the county pay them a monthly fee to use their own cars. A 2005 survey of Big Island police officers by the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers showed that if given a choice, 110 officers, or 71 percent, favored a subsidized program, while 44 officers, or 29 percent, preferred switching to a fleet.
The officers in the subsidized program are required to have their own vehicles that meet certain size and power standards and have required equipment such as lights. The county carries liability insurance for the vehicles, but the officers must purchase their own comprehensive and collision insurance.
The Police Department is authorized for 432 officers, but not all positions are filled, Kubojiri said.
The Police Department plans to give a full report at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday to the County Council Committee on Human Services, Social Services & Public Safety.
Council Chairman Dominic Yagong, who requested the report, said he can also see value in marked police vehicles.
“But in today’s economy,” Yagong said, “it comes down to dollars and cents.”
ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com
