Print this story |
E-mail story |
This story has 21 comments Add your own |
iPod friendly | Bookmark this
What is this?
photo by Hannah Reel
Capt. Tom McGehee looks as the wires that will be used to hook up the patrol equipment in one of the new Chevrolet Impalas on the lot at the Natchez Police Department.
Natchez police gets eight new cars
Published Thursday, May 28, 2009
NATCHEZ — The Natchez Police Department has bought eight new cars, and Chief Mike Mullins said he anticipates saving money in the long run.
Traditionally, police have used 8-cyclinder cars, and recently Natchez’s cars have been Crown Victorias.
But the eight new cars that have been purchased and were delivered late last week are 2009 Chevrolet Impalas and are only 6 cylinders.
“This was done for cost efficiency,” Mullins said.
On the front end, the Impalas cost approximately $18,000, which is a $2,000 reduction from the Crown Victorias.
But Mullins is more focused on the savings in the long run.
A Crown Victoria only gets nine to 10 miles to the gallon in the city, whereas the Chevrolet Impala will get 15 to 17 miles per gallon in the city, he said.
Additionally, Crown Victoria tires are wider in diameter and more expensive to purchase.
“We go through a lot of tires,” Mullins said, so having smaller tires will save money, as well.
Five of the eight new cars will be patrol cars and have been financed for 24 months.
The remaining three cars will be unmarked and have been financed for five years.
The cars were purchased at Rogers-Dabbs Chevrolet Hummer Inc., in Brandon.
Mullins said he purchased the vehicles there, because the state has contracted with the dealer.
Any purchase over $15,000 has to be opened up for bids. Each year, the state lets out bids for a myriad of equipment, including cars.
Mullins said by using the state contracted dealership, the city does not have to let out bids, which simplifies the process.
Also, by going through the state’s contracted dealership, the city is more likely to get a better deal.
The car purchase was budgeted for this year. At the beginning of each fiscal year Mullins has to determine the life expectancy of his police cars, he said.
A patrol car typically lasts for three years, or at 130,000 miles. Unmarked cars typically last 10 years.
At 130,000 miles, Mullins said the cars will start needing major repairs, usually involving the engine or the transmission.
At that point, instead of spending between $2,500 to $3,500 fixing a car that has more than 100,000 miles on it, it’s better to just buy a new car.
Last week during the city budget hearings, Mullins told aldermen of his car purchases.
Middleton said from now on, he would like to try something new.
“We’re going to drive it until the transmission falls out of it, and then we’re going to put a new transmission in it and drive it some more,” he said.
He said he’d like to do things differently from the way they’ve always been done, and he’d like to try repairing the cars instead of scrapping them for new ones.
“Most people can get 150,000 miles out of a car easily,” Middleton said. “Some people get more than that. Just don’t drive them as hard.”
Comments
Posted by StuWhoMoved (anonymous) on May 28, 2009 at 3:20 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Some of the agencies close to where i work have bought the impalas and they spend more time in the shop than on the road. Real good choice on getting those.
Posted by whatusay (anonymous) on May 28, 2009 at 4:35 a.m. (Suggest removal)
hey stu, thats a real good choice u made also. ha ha
Posted by duck (anonymous) on May 28, 2009 at 6:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)
why didn,t jake make ralph tedder put a new motor in his dodge car instead of buying a new mercury marquis and giving him his mountaineer. jake and his trusty board of aldermen and his famous city clerk holloway need to be on the road picking up trash ,
Posted by redhotfiredog2 (anonymous) on May 28, 2009 at 7:05 a.m. (Suggest removal)
You are talking about a patrol car. I am not a Patrolman but I do understand the use and natural abuse of these units. The Mayor shows he does not understand what it takes to run a 24 hour a day department. Mayor get your head out of your A_ _. 130000 miles in town at slow speeds, less than 55mph, most of the time. This is a mechanics dream. At 2000 to 3000 dollars per transmission or 3000 to 4000 per engine it would not take long to pay for several cars. Go Chief it is your budget.
Posted by gemccull (Gary McCullars) on May 28, 2009 at 7:25 a.m. (Suggest removal)
"Last week during the city budget hearings, Mullins told aldermen of his car purchases."
Hmm! What the hell does this tell us about control of the purse strings for city government?
Surely, the mayor, clerk and BOA knew before the fact that the autos were purchased.
But on the other hand, maybe not!
Posted by graybear (anonymous) on May 28, 2009 at 8:30 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Maybe if the police did not dog the crap out of these cars during normal driving conditions , the transmissions would not need to be replaced at 130000 miles . Most people drive their cars much further than that with no problems . Also , lets put the mayor and board of aldermen on bicycles to save money and get rid of some of the "pork" in city government .
Posted by excitement (anonymous) on May 28, 2009 at 9:45 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Even the NPD went out of town to get a good deal. HA!
Buy within the city....yeah right!
Posted by mslugirl (anonymous) on May 28, 2009 at 9:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)
As I stated in the NRMC article, there is an ad in the ND todat that states:"Shop local, buy local." Now, why should we buy local if we can get a better deal out of town if the city itself doesn't do it?
Posted by Hardcorps (anonymous) on May 28, 2009 at 11:08 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I have never heard of anyone from Natchez buying a car from great river. I have friends who hunt and fish with salesmen there and my friends go elsewhere to buy vehicles. I have gone by there to look at a car I want. I talk to the salesmen, then I go elsewhere and find the car for 2,000 to 4,000 cheaper.
Posted by mslugirl (anonymous) on May 28, 2009 at 1:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)
hardcorps....same goes for Natchez Ford. Happened to us 10 years ago. 2 years ago, when we bought again, we looked there first. They did not have what we wanted at the time, but said they would call us when they got one in. We finally went out of town for $2000 less. They never called, although we did see what we were looking for there before going out of town. Figured if they wanted to sell it, they would have called. And of course, saved the $2000.
Posted by Gustave (anonymous) on May 28, 2009 at 2:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The Dodge Charger would have been a better choice. What people are NOT taking into account is that these vehicles will probably be on the road 24hrs a day, a V6 is not going to hold up like a V8. I think these vehicles will spend more time in a mechanics garage than on the road in the long run.
I refuse to buy a vehicle locally, if one does his/her homework one will find that they can save thousands of dollars by going to Jackson or Baton Rouge. I recently purchased an SUV out of town and saved THOUSANDS in what I WOULD HAVE PAID at a Natchez dealer.
It's YOUR money people, spend it wisely.
Posted by imnms017 (anonymous) on May 28, 2009 at 8:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Hey Gustave--pick up a copy of Consumer Reports. Other than there being no reason to believe a v8 will necessarily hold up better than a v6, you'll find that the Impala's they purchased got a higher rating than the Crown Vic has.
;)
Posted by nosyrosy (anonymous) on May 28, 2009 at 9:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Went to buy a Tahoe in Natchez, stood in the parking lot for thirty minutes while the salesmen watched us, went to BR and got it.
Posted by erohed (anonymous) on May 28, 2009 at 10:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Well done:)
Posted by bayougal (anonymous) on May 29, 2009 at 8:33 a.m. (Suggest removal)
We bought our truck from a dealer in St. Francisville for A LOT LESS! We tried to buy here but never got phone calls returned nor were the prices as good. We're very satisfied where we bought and the service is great. Our local dealers just act like they don't care if you buy or not! So we didn't!
Posted by firered (Elizabeth Geter) on May 29, 2009 at 9:06 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I bought my vehicle from Heritage Chrysler and was very satisfied with the customer service. I didn't shop around, it was more of an impulse thing. But the people who work there are awesome! I was very happy with them!
Posted by juju (anonymous) on May 29, 2009 at 11:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)
6-cylinder or 8-cylinder, who cares? The thugs that hit my practically never patrolled street several times last year were all on foot!
Posted by joe9 (anonymous) on May 29, 2009 at 7:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)
regardless of how many cylinders a car engine has, if you ease up on the go peddle and drive a vehicle responsibly, it will last longer.
Posted by bigblulights (anonymous) on May 30, 2009 at 12:33 a.m. (Suggest removal)
For all of you who believe that NPD officers should ease up on the gas or putt putt along, I would be willing to bet you would want them putting their foot to the floor if there were a thug in your home, or someone was assaulting you now wouldn't you? Just think about this, in a city of approximately 18,000 and in a twelve hour time frame the department has (if they are lucky) 6 patrol officers on the street, that boils down to around 3000 citizens per patrol officer. What do you want when you are in trouble? An officer to drive slowly or one to respond as quickly as possible for your safety? Yea, thought so! As far as the arguement between Chevrolet Impala and Dodge Charger; the Impala has six cylinders yea, but with the new chip in the Charger you only run on four cylinders while driving at a nominal speed and the eight cylinder 'monster' kicks in when you really put your foot in it for maximum acceleration. Now think about it, if six is less than eight,.....see where i'm going? That's right kiddies, four is less than six. Now which do you think would save gas money in the long run? Hmmmmmmm?
Posted by tbaby3 (anonymous) on May 30, 2009 at 6:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Well, the thought , I imagine was to save money when the cars were purchased. Lets give the police some credit for trying. I can't buy a car here because of my credit. Maybe thats cool cause good credit people are getting the shaft here.
Posted by juju (anonymous) on June 1, 2009 at 12:50 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Excuse me! Aren't our police supposed to be focusing on catching crooks and at the same time saving money on these new cars? I do belive I see a radio and CD player in the picture! What's up?!
Post a comment (Terms of Use Policy)
(Requires free registration.)