2004-01-AU Hawai‘i County Police Department Vehicles

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The Kauai County Pol i ce Department i ni ti aced a " take -home program" of county -owned marked patrol cars for 135 off i cers i n N ovember 1998. A ccordi ng to the Kauai Pol i ce Department, the program " al I ows off i cers to uti I i ze thei r patrol vehi d es to and f rom work" and " enabl es the off i cers to respond to I age scal a emergend es di rec;tl y from home." I n a Vest H awai i Today anti d e (M ay 16, 2003) Kauai Pot i ce Department M otor Pool Supervi sor M i ke Layosa said that [Kauai County] patrol cars used to last three years before they would become "junk." Since the county initiated its take -home program in 1998, Layosa stated that the cars purchased then are in "good condition and running sound." Beyond H awai ` i , an online search conducted for this report found only one other jurisdiction with a subsidy policy —the Government of Guam. Chapter 56 ( §56101. Police Use of Private Vehicles.) of the Guam Code states (in part) : "The Guam Pot i ce Department shall permit police officers to use their privately owned vehicles for police service, patrol duty and other law enforcement related functions. The Department shat I prescri be adequate compensati on and i nsurance as descri bed bell ow." Reportedl y, some I ndi an reservati ons i n the southwest al so subsi di ze personal vehi d es for N ati ve A meri can pol i ce off i cers. I n a phone query wi th a representati ve from FordF1 eet, makers of approxi matel y 80% of al I the pol i ce cars nati onwi de, no comparabl e j uri sdi cti on was i denti f i ed that currentl y subsi di zes pri vale vehi cl es for pol i ce servi ce. A s such, whi I e there are many studi es on the rel ati ve cost- effecti veness/feasi bi I i ty of a "take—home' assigned (city or county- owned) vehicle program, the literature on subsidized private vehi d es vs. muni ci pal fl eet vehi d es i s absent. H awai ` i' s hi story of subsi di zed pol i ce vehi d es provi des most of the avai I abl e I i terature on the topi c. B. A Study of the Automobile Allowance System of the Hawai'i County Police Department, 1972 1 n A pri 1, 1972 the H awai ` i County Pot i ce Department i ssued a report ti tl ed " A Study of the Automobi I e Al I owance S�rstem of the H awai ` i County Pot i ce Department." The study was conducted pursuant to an eval uati on of H CPD' s automobi I e al I owance structure by the audi ti ng f rm of Peat, M arwi ck & M i tchel I and Company in 1970. The 1972 H CPD report stated that the Peat M arwi do auditors "detected an apparent i nequi ty i n the present system," prompti ng the audi tors to make the fol I owi ng recommendati ons: 1. Reassess the reasonabl eness of the basi c al I owances current) y i n effect to make them more representati ve of the basi c costs i nvol ved i n coveri ng mai ntenance costs, basi c wear and tear, etc. 2. A dj ust the rel ati ve amounts of the al I owances so that they proper) y rel ate to the actual vehi d e utilization associated with a particular position d assi f i cati on and the attendant duties performed; 3. El i mi nate those al I owances that are bei ng gi ven to personnel whose vehi d e uti I i zati on record is infrequent or negligible. Asa corollary to the above recommendation, we suggest that the County consi der al ternati ve courses of acti on such as rei mbursi ng the user on a mi I eage basi s for the use of hi s pri vale vehi d e for off ci al County busi ness or establ i shi ng a County -owned pool of vehicles for common use by the casual users; and 4. Reeval uate the rati onal a for al l owance differenti al s between urban and rural areas. 14