One by one, the new fleet of patrol vehicles for the Guthrie Police Department made their way down Oklahoma Ave. as they draw closer from hitting the streets.
The police department, who has been dealing with fleet issues for years, held a photo shoot for the 10 2017 Chevrolet Tahoe Police Pursuit units at the Masonic Temple on Monday morning.
The police units, which come fully equipped with emergency equipment, were purchased by the Oklahoma Statewide Contract through Hudiburg Chevrolet. The total price tag for the complete 10 units is $720,330.00. Each unit has a breakdown of $36,198 for the vehicle and $35,835 for the emergency equipment.
“We sure want to thank the many fine citizens of the City of Guthrie for passing the Capital Improvement Sales Tax and for making sure that the police department vehicles were among your priorities,” Police Chief Don Sweger said.
In February 2016, Guthrie citizens passed a three-quarter of a cent sales tax with a 15-year (June 30, 2031) sunset clause for capital improvements.
“The majority of our fleet was 2003 and 2008 models and over 200,000 miles,” Sgt. Jeremy Thorne said in front of the Masonic Temple. “These (new vehicles) are amazing.”
Thorne, who also serves as the department’s Information Technology guru, says the dash cam is one of the most exciting features that each unit will have. Along with easier maintenance, the video will automatically download once an officer arrives back to the station onto the server and the system will automatically send updates to the cameras.
For the officers, Thorne says the addition of emergency lights along the side of the vehicles will be a much needed improvement.
“One of the biggest ways we (officers) have accidents is someone going through an intersection and the officer getting t-boned on the side. This is going to alert people that we are coming.”
In June, the police department took first place in the Heroes and Hot Rods Car Show in Jenks with their 2017 Chevy Tahoe.
Citizens can expect to see the new patrol vehicles in the coming days after a few more details are installed and completed.
Guthrie property owner just paid police officers back pay of around $140,000 now spending $720,000 on new police cars, Am I missing something?