SPRINGDALE — Springdale police want to go back to classic Ford Crown Victoria squad cars next year.

Chief Kathy O’Kelley is asking for six new cruisers in her 2010 budget, and wants to move away from the Dodge Chargers the department purchased in 2007 and 2008.

The department got their fi rst Dodges by accident in 2007 when Ford couldn’t replace cars that were shipped with some of the wrong options, but Dodge had cars available, said Capt. Ron Hritz.

Most officers prefer the bigger Fords because they have more room, better visibility and handle better, he said.

“The Chargers are just not conducive to what we do,” Hritz said. “I think they do have a function in police work, just not in town where we operate.”

The V-8, rear wheel drive Crown Victorias cost $22,400 each through the state bid process, about $2,200 more than the Chargers. Both get about the same gas mileage, Hritz said.

The new cars help replace older ones that are worn out and shouldn’t be used for daily police duty, Hritz said.

The Fords enjoy a cost advantage because the design hasn’t changed in nearly a decade, allowing the department to reuse prisoner cages, custom consoles and radio mounts.

“The 2010 models look just like the ’03s, so we can swap the equipment out. With the Chargers, we’d have to buy about $2,000 in add-ons,” he said.

The cars account for more than half of $231,000 in capital expenditures the department wants to make next year.

The department also took delivery Wednesday of a new Taurus that willserve as an administrative car.

“The best part is, this one’s a freebie,” Capt. Mike Peters said.

“The U.S. Marshall’s Office had too much extra cash, so they bought some of these for several police departments in the area.”

The department cut the 2010 budget to $10.6 million, down $633,000 from this year’s requests. Some of the change came from increasingbooking fees in the jail and reimbursements from other agencies, and by reducing fuel estimates and transferring the regional bomb squad to Bentonville.

“It’s not like we’re going to drive less, but we budgeted this year figuring gas was going to cost $4.25 a gallon. We dropped the cost estimate $80,000 just be figuring on $3.25 a gallon next year.” Hritz said.

“We’ll keep our fingers crossed on that number.”

News, Pages 1 on 11/05/2009

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