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Highlands Today

Curbing Fuel Use

To Save Gas, Cops Limit Take-Home Use, Non-Emergency Trips

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By Gary Pinnell | Highlands Today

Published: July 9, 2008

SEBRING For 15 minutes every hour, Clearwater police officers are encouraged to turn off their patrol car engines.

And in Tampa, Capt. Stephen Hogue has memoed his officers: Limit the time that engines idle.

Lake Placid Police Chief Phil Williams wants to save gasoline, too, but he isn't buying those solutions.

"I can't tell an officer, on a 90-degree day, to sit in a car, without the air conditioning running, in a bullet-proof vest," he laughed.

"That's not realistic," Sebring Police Commander Steve Carr agreed with Williams. "You need your car idling to run the electronic equipment and the overhead lights. And you've got to keep the K9 cool."

The whole point of giving patrol officers Smart Cops laptops to write their reports is that they'll remain in public, not in their offices, Williams said. The cops can watch out for bad guys, and the bad guys can see the cops.

All the local law enforcement departments are finding ways to save money on gasoline.

The fuel budget for Lake Placid PD is a measly $25,000. To partially compensate for $4 gasoline, Williams is upping that to $28,000.

Compare that to the Highlands County Sheriff's Office, where Chief of Staff Lisa Burley projected 200,000 gallons of gas will be used in fiscal year 2008-09. At $4 a gallon, it will cost $800,000. Just last year, gas was budgeted at $2.34.

Every non-patrol car has been parked behind the sheriff's office, Sheriff Susan Benton said. Their use has been limited to on-duty personnel only.

Sebring has already restricted the use of take-home vehicles to officers who live in Sebring ZIP codes, said Carr. "Except for a couple who are grandfathered in."

The Sebring fuel budget is $97,500 this year, and $110,000 next year.

SPD is researching whether nitrogen in tires instead of plain old air will increase gas mileage, Carr said. The U.S. government estimates the average driver will improve fuel economy by 3.3 percent.

Neither Carr nor Police Chief Tom Dettman has written memos on the use of air conditioning, non-emergency trips or idling engines.

"We haven't said what you can or can't do, just be cognizant," Carr said.

At night, when the air is cool, officers turn off their air conditioners and roll down the windows, Carr said. But that's a time-proven listening technique, rather than a way to save gasoline.

In cool weather, both Sebring and Avon Park are also using bicycles. But again, said Carr, bikes are a silent technique to surprise burglars.

Bikes aren't as useful in Highlands County, said Burley, where the smallest zone is the entire eastern side, which has 5,500 residents.

"They stay in their zones, unless an emergency occurs and they're called out," Burley said.

Behind the county roads and bridge department, mechanic Chet Dodd checks every deputy's car.

"That's what it comes down to, if you want to save gas. Proper maintenance," Dodd said. "Properly inflated tires, and clean air filters."

When he replaces the next worn-out squad car, Williams is looking at a Ford Escape, a compact SVU.

"But they cost $5,000 more than the regular old Crown Vic," the police chief pointed out. "You can buy a lot of gas for $5,000.

When the Lake Placid Police Department inherited code enforcement, they also got the Dodge Neon that came with the officer, Williams said. They're using the compact car to drive to training at South Florida Community College, rather than a gas-guzzling Crown Victoria.

What police are trying to do, said Carr, Williams and Burley, is to prevent trading public safety for gas mileage.

"We're still trying to provide the same level of service in neighborhoods," said Carr.

Gary Pinnell can be reached at gpinnell@highlandstoday.com or 863 386-5828.

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