Milton’s is not unlike other Valley police departments in that it is spending as much as 36 percent more than it did a year ago to fuel its cruisers.
Milton is unlike other Valley police departments in that it is trying to reduce gasoline usage.
Engines will not be running while the borough’s police cruisers are parked for any length of time, police Chief Craig Lutcher said.
“They aren’t sitting in the car idling,” said Lutcher, who is also considering reinstituting bicycle patrols once his force is back to four officers.
Cruiser engines will idle in Lewisburg, and no fuel-saving restrictions have been placed on Selinsgrove police cars as of yet, officials said.
Milton budgeted $20,500 for police and borough crew fuel costs in 2007 but actually spent $36,246, borough manager Chuck Beck said. The borough spent $13,129 on fuel in the first three months of 2008, compared with $9,615 in the same period of 2007, a 36 percent increase, Beck said.
It’s the same in Danville, where the borough spent $12,892 on cruisers’ and borough crews’ fuel in the first quarter of 2008 compared with $8,903 in the same period of 2007, a 45 percent increase, borough finance director Shannon Berkey said.
Cutting back on idling cars is not an option in Lewisburg, said police Chief Paul Yost, who notes that the cruiser is the equivalent of an office for the police officer.
“It’s the cost of doing business,” he said. “We’ve always been conservative. But we still need to provide services to the community.”
The cost of gasoline for Lewisburg patrol cars had doubled since 2005, said Yost, who estimates cruiser mileage to be between 34,000 and 38,000 annually, and the average miles per gallon at 9.5.
He builds his fuel budget around those numbers.
“So far this year, we’re right at $5,000 for fuel, and in 2005, we spent $6,000 for the whole year,” Yost said.
Two of Lewisburg’s cars have the gasoline-saving four- to eight-cylinder option, said Yost, who added that four Lewisburg officers are trained and certified as bicycle officers. Those officers are utilized for evening shifts, especially when Bucknell University is in session, Yost said.
John Bickhart, borough manager in Selinsgrove, said no restrictions on police vehicles have been discussed.
“We haven’t talked about it yet,” he said. “Police are an essential service that people have come to expect.”
Bicycle patrols had been tried some years ago, but because of issues similar to those in Milton — staffing, response time and mutual aid calls — are no longer a factor.
Milton’s four-car fleet includes three that have features designed to increase their mileage, Lutcher said.
“Our two Chargers run on four cylinders when they don’t need the power of all eight, and our Impala goes from six down to three,” Lutcher said.
When the department is back to its full complement of officers, Lutcher hopes to reinstitute bike patrols. The department, which operates on four daily shifts, is down one officer right now. The police contract requires two officers on duty from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m.
“Right now, when we have only one officer on duty, it’s an issue of response time and mutual aid calls,” he said. “An officer needs to be able to respond quickly.”
n E-mail comments to wlaepple@dailyitem.com
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