Due to supply chain issues and cruiser recalls, police departments across Franklin County have had to take detours to acquire new cruisers.
Ashfield, Buckland, Erving, Orange, Warwick and Whately are among the communities looking to bolster their fleets. Most departments are looking to buy secondhand vehicles, with Ford’s mass cancellation of cruiser orders cited by chiefs as impetus.
“Unfortunately, Ford has canceled over 1,500 cruisers nationwide because they can’t build them,” said Ashfield Police Chief Beth Bezio, whose frustrations were echoed by Orange Police Chief James Sullivan and Warwick Police Chief David Shoemaker.
Ashfield’s Selectboard, which typically approves funding for a new police cruiser every three years, is considering expediting this cycle due to rising cruiser costs and the declining condition of their department’s 2017 cruiser.
“I don’t know if the ’17 is going to last as long as I’d have to wait for a cruiser if we wait,” Bezio said at last week’s Selectboard meeting. “It’s just costing more money.”
Bezio explained that if the town kept its pace and ordered a cruiser in 2023, the cost of hybrid cruisers would likely be up roughly $10,000 and the cost of associated equipment would be inflated by roughly 20%. Ordering a new cruiser now would avoid excess spending by the town and wouldn’t obstruct the pace of the cycle going forward, she said. Bezio requested the Selectboard appropriate an additional $36,000, in addition to authorize the spending of $25,000 already in the budget, to purchase a 2022 hybrid cruiser from McGovern Automotive. The Selectboard could also opt to trade in the 2017 model to reduce the purchase price, Bezio said.
The Selectboard opted to further analyze the budget and consider funding sources before voting to purchase a new vehicle.
“We have that (American Rescue Plan Act) money sitting there, but gosh, we’d hate to use it on consumable stuff,” Selectboard Vice Chair Todd Olanyk commented.
Following an August accident that left an Erving cruiser “totaled,” the Selectboard authorized the purchase of a new hybrid cruiser during its meeting on Oct. 3.
Police Chief Robert Holst said the department intends to acquire the hybrid cruiser, a 2023 Ford Explorer, for roughly $62,000 as a replacement for a 2019 Dodge Charger. The decision to purchase the vehicle came not long after Erving received Franklin County’s first all-electric police vehicle, a purchase the Selectboard had authorized on Sept. 14.
More details about Erving’s new cruisers can be found at bit.ly/3CsJosZ.
The Warwick Police Department intends to purchase a 2013 Ford Interceptor cruiser from Gill, which will see its 2022 Ford Interceptor built in around two weeks.
Gill declared its 2013 cruiser as surplus after the vehicle, which had more than 116,000 miles on it as of early April, was voted by the Selectboard to be replaced that month. The board voted last week to pursue selling the cruiser to the Warwick Police Department both to strike a lucrative deal and “to help another small town,” as articulated by Gill Town Administrator Ray Purington.
“We benefited when Deerfield gave us a similar option,” Purington recalled.
Shoemaker said the Selectboard allocated funding for a new cruiser “a while ago” and he has since informally agreed to a deal with Gill Police Chief Christopher Redmond. Shoemaker noted that acquiring Gill’s cruiser was “an opportunity that (he) jumped right at,” considering how difficult it has been to order new cruisers.
“We just can’t get these vehicles,” he said.
While the cruiser Shoemaker will replace is also a 2013 model, it’s “just tired,” whereas the Gill Police Department has a “very good reputation with maintaining their vehicles.” Shoemaker said he was further motivated to purchase an older cruiser because it would lessen the burden on taxpayers.
“Our tax base is all residential and this is a way for us to get a piece of equipment we need without putting a burden on the residents,” he said, adding that he expects to pay around $5,000 for the cruiser.
In Whately, Police Chief James Sevigne Jr. laid out two options for the Selectboard after the town’s order for a 2022 hybrid Ford Interceptor was canceled: order a 2023 cruiser, which will potentially take a year to come in, or order a gas-powered car that is already on the dealer’s lot.
“They do currently have, sitting on their lot, 2022 gas cruisers, which is essentially the same cruiser (the town already has), just a new model,” Sevigne told the Selectboard last week. “They could essentially start building this car tomorrow and we could have it within three to four weeks.”
Sevigne estimated the 2023 hybrid cruiser would cost approximately $63,000, while the 2022 gas cruiser would be about $51,000.
Selectboard Chair Joyce Palmer-Fortune, who is also a physics professor at Smith College, did some calculations based on gas usage and mileage data provided by Sevigne and determined the hybrid cruiser, while more expensive up front, would be cheaper in the long run.
“I’m kind of inclined to wait for the hybrid,” Palmer-Fortune said. “Everything is an estimate, but we know where the oil prices tend to go in the world we live in.”
Palmer-Fortune floated the idea of possibly looking at an all-electric vehicle like Erving, but Sevigne said he was looking for a frontline car for his department, rather than an administrative vehicle.
In either case, Palmer-Fortune and Sevigne said they wanted to double-check their math on fuel savings and will make a decision at the next Selectboard meeting.
“We’ll get some numbers crunched and a decision as soon as we can,” she said.
Sullivan said he expects his department will receive two new Ford Explorer cruisers within the next month or so. He also plans to ask for an appropriation for a third one at a Special Town Meeting on Dec. 8. One is a duty cruiser being rotated out, one is a 2014 administrative cruiser ready for replacement and the third sustained some damage.
The new vehicles were originally going to be hybrids, but Sullivan said they will be gas cars because Ford canceled so many hybrid orders in the 2022 build year. The chief said the price of Ford hybrids has increased by $8,000 per cruiser and the build time is 42 to 50 weeks — and this doesn’t include the vehicles’ delivery time or the installation of police equipment.
Julian Mendoza can be reached at 413-772-0261, ext. 261, or [email protected]. Chris Larabee can be reached at 413-930-4081 or [email protected]. Domenic Poli can be reached at 413-772-0261, ext. 262, or [email protected].
