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

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create " omni presence" and an "added deterrence' [to crime] . No studies were cited in support of these asserti ons, however. Other si x -year cost esti mates provi ded i n the 1972 study i nd uded mi xed f I eet and I eased f I eet opti ons, as fol I ows: • PrivatetCounty -owned fleet (33 privatecars103 county cars) with 3 -year trade -in ... $2,732,103 • PrivatetCounty -owned fleet (168 privatecars14 county cars) with 3 -year trade -in ... $3,294,010 • Leased Fleet, Non - Maintenance Plan ........................ ............................... $3,250,253 • Leased Fleet, Maintenance Ran ............................... ............................... $3,554,519 The f i rst mi xed fl eet al ternati ve was seen as off eri ng " an avenue for the gradual phasi ng -i n of a county - owned fl eet." I is percei ved di sadvantage was separate admi ni strati on of di sti nct systems and costs. The second mixed fl eet opti on was based on a proposal to conti nue al I owances for 168 cars operated by patrol officers and detectives and purchase 14 county -owned vehicles for administrative personnel. Other than proj ected cost esti mates, no rati onal a or " pro and con" anal ysi s was offered respecti ve to the I eased fl eet opti ons. The f i nal opti on presented was a system based on a mi I eage rei mbursement rate, determi ned to be $.15 per mi I e. This option was seen to be "equitable to the extent that al I owances are paid according to actual uti I i zati on" but had the " potenti al for abuse by off cers accumul ati ng mi I eage for hi gher al I owances." The 1972 report commented briefly on the systems uti I i zed by the other three counties. At the ti me, M aui County pai d monthl y al I owances of $110 to i is patrol off cers and, whi I e consi deri ng the feasi bi I i ty of converti ng to a county -owned fl eet, el ected to " remai n wi th i is present system because of the fewer problems it presented." Kauai County was i n the mi dst of converti ng to a parti al county -owned fl eet pursuant to a study that indicated that the county "could realize a savings of $21,000 a year." Kauai's conversion, reportedly, " had an adverse effect on the off i cers' moral d' due, i n part, " to the I ack of warni ng of the di sconti nuati on of the cash al I owance." I n 1972, H onol ul u operated a mi xed fl eet consi sti ng of 895 patrol cars of whi ch onl y 55 were owned by the Ci ty & County. The ci ty -owned cars were customari I y assi gned to motor patrol trai nees who I ater graduated to a private subsidized car. Honolulu's al I owances ranged from $75 to $120 monthly dependi ng on the average mi I eage recorded by the uni t to whi ch an off i cer was assi gned. H onol ul u' s al I owance computati ons were revi eNed at six -month i nterval s. I n 1967, an i ndependent consultant had recommended that the Honolulu Police Department convert to a 100% City & County -owned fleet, but H onol ul u di d not i mpl ement the proposed conversi on. The 1972 HaNai ` i County Pol i ce Department study di d not reach any f nal cond usi on as to a preferred system or pol i cy for pol i ce cars. I nstead, i t suggested that " no one perfect system exi sts" and cauti oned that "what is advantageous to the County may be disadvantageous to the officer." It acknowledged that " most of the effects of the pl ans studi ed are cost- rel ated." I t di d add the resol ute comment that " the deci di ng factor shoul d be the abi I i ty of the department to adequatel y carry out i is mi ssi on of provi di ng maxi mum protecti on to the publ i c." H owever, the study offered no concl usi ve f ndi ng as to whi ch of i is fleet options best fit that "deciding factor." Based on the study's f i ndi ngs, however, the H auvai ` i County Pol i ce Commi ssi on recommended retai ni ng the exi sti ng cash al I owance system wi th hi gher al I owances to be pai d to each off cer. 17