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

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Adverse Effects (To Officers) 1. Sped al equi pment and extra safety devi ces such as rol I bars, heavy duty suspensi on, etc. are acqui red at the off i cer' s expense. 2. Low trade -i n val ue of pol i ce vehi d e due to excessi ve mi I eage and use. 3. The automobi I e al I owance has remai ned the same whereas the cost of automobi I es, ti res, parts and repai rs keep i ncreasi ng. 4. Off i cers f i nd i t di ff i cul t to obtai n col I i si on and comprehensi ve i nsurance and when they do, the rates are very hi gh because of the extra hazards i nvol ved i n pol i ce work. 5. Disadvantage to individual officer in that he has to buy a vehicle which meets the department's sped f i cati ons." The study determi ned that the present al I owance system " di d contai n several i nequi ti es" and cond uded that " offi cers were not recei vi ng a fai r return for the use of thei r vehi d es." To correct these i nequi ti es, the study proposed an al I owance system based a combi nati on of " f xed" and " operati ng" costs. Fixed costs were determi ned to be the cost of a new 1972 Ford Custom Pol i ce Sped al ($4,500), pl us i nterest payments cal cul aced at 5.75% for three years ($777), pl us col I i si on i nsurance for three years ($501), pl us the cost of a bl ue emergency I i ght ($60), mi nus an esti mated trade -i n val ue of $950 after three years, for a net three -year cost of $4,888. Thi s amount was then di vi ded by a 70% " off i ci al use" formul a that yi el ded a total cost of $3,422 di vi ded by 36 months for a monthly "fixed cost" allowance of $95.06. A ddi ti onal operati ng costs i nd udi ng parts repl acement, unschedul ed repai rs were esti mated to be $858 per year based on 24,000 annum mi I eage or $2,574 over the course of three years, thereby averaging $65.45 monthly for operations personnel and $38.68 monthly for staff. Based on thi s cost anal ysi s, the study cond uded that equi tabl a toted monthl y al I owances woul d be $160 for operati ons offi cers and $135 for staff. Based upon thi s formul a, the study esti mated a total si x -year cash al I owance cost of $3,411,107. Comparabl a six -year proj ected esti mates for a county -owned fl eet were based on two-year and three -year trade -i n opti ons, coupl ed wi th vari ous mai ntenance opti ons, as fol I ows: • County -owned fl eet, pri vale garage mai ntenance (2 -year trade -i n) ....... $3,205,481 • County -owned fl eet, private garage mai ntenance (3 -year trade -i n) ....... $3,813,822 • County -owned fl eet, county motor pool mai ntenance (2 -year trade -i n) ... $3,725,782 • County -owned fl eet, county motor pool mai ntenance (3 -year trade -i n) ... $3,261,135 • County -owned fl eet, pol i ce department mai ntenance (2 -year trade -i n) ... $4,778,197 • County -owned fl eet, pol i ce department mai ntenance (3 -year trade -i n) ... $4,313,550 The study further estimated that an "assigned" fleet of vehicles permanently assigned to officers comprised of 169 marked cars and 43 unmarked cars would cost $4,752,820 over six years with cars traded in every two years and $4,346,758 over six years with a three -year trade-in. The study suggested that assi gned vehi d e pl ans " recently i ntroduced on the mai nl and" were " gall ni ng popul ari ty among pol i ce agenci es" and offered the prospect that " hi gh exposure of the publ i c to marked pol i ce vehi d es" woul d 16