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Minutes for the Public Safety Committee meeting on October 18, 2005.
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PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE MINUTES
October 18, 2005
The Jonesboro Public Safety Committee met October 18, 2005, at 4:45 p.m. in the City Council Conference Room of the Huntington Building located at 900 W. Monroe, Jonesboro, Arkansas. Present were: Jim Hargis, Harold Perrin, Tim McCall, Judy Furr, Mitch Johnson, Mayor Doug Formon, City Clerk Donna Jackson, Staff, Press and Audience. Councilman Chris Moore was unable to attend.
Acting chairman Tim McCall opened the meeting at 4:45 p.m.
PRESENTATION BY POLICE DEPARTMENT
Police Chief Michael Yates presented the committee with a proposal to purchase new police vehicles. He discussed the take home vehicle program, which allows the police officers to take their police vehicles home. Chief Yates added a policy would be set up regarding how the cars would be used and maintained and who would be able to take them home. He further informed the committee that the take home program would help ensure accountability of the vehicles since if only one person is using the vehicle and something goes wrong with it, then the department will know who is responsible. He also stated that police officer recruitment might be increased, as well as officer moral. He estimated that 39 of the department’s 90 vehicles have hit or will hit 100,000 miles within the next twelve months. Chief Yates also explained 55% of the current fleet is “hot seated”, which means the vehicle is in use during every shift each day. Hot seated vehicles usually go through a 36,000 mile/3 year warranty within eight months due to the excessive use.
Chief Yates proposed moving the department to the take home policy and purchasing 50 new police vehicles. He suggested utilizing a capital lease purchase program to finance the purchase of the vehicles. The four year plan would cost approximately $418,000 a year, while the 5 year plan would cost approximately $334,000 each year.
Chief Yate...
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