First, I understand we have an 8 year old police car, and I do believe it may be time to upgrade. But, I'd like to offer that the city doesn't have $18,000 lying around, and the most they can spend is just shy of 10k according to the minutes. So rather than buying a brand new car, why not purchase a slightly used one from govdeals.com? They also sell police light bars and cages on govdeals to government entities, meaning we can get a decent fully loaded car for under 10k, and then keep the existing vehicle. The existing car can be a "dummy car" with all the lights and sirens on it, and be a crime deterrent when the officer isn't present. Or, we can add another part time officer down the road.

I would also submit that we can be patient, only bid on cars with certain criteria (mileage, model, year), and bid only as much as we are comfortable spending. There isn't enough wrong with the current car to warrant a hasty move.

For sale, a 2004 Impala police package 62,000 miles:Current bid under $4000

http://www.govdeals.com/eas/itmDisplay.cfm?itemID=3&acctID=1703

Light bar: Current bid $300

http://www.govdeals.com/eas/itmDisplay.cfm?itemID=30&acctID=715

Shield for in between the seats $300

http://www.govdeals.com/eas/itmDisplay.cfm?itemID=52&acctID=144

New portable 800mhz police radio that will work on the MetroSafe system - Around $200

http://cgi.ebay.com/Motorola-MTX-8000-800MHz-Police-Fire-Trunking-Radio_W0QQitemZ170229520118QQihZ007QQcategoryZ46539QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

In car radio around $200

http://cgi.ebay.com/GE-Ericsson-MDX-800MHz-Police-Radio-with-Mic-MRM-Data_W0QQitemZ180253045318QQihZ008QQcategoryZ46539QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Factor in new tires for the car, $500, a once over at the Chevron on Hubbards, oil change et al, $300. Decals $500

My grand total here is right around $6,000. Correct me if I am wrong, but we have that on hand and available right now don't we? If one car breaks, we still have the other, and then if something comes up over time that costs a lot, we can make another used vehicle purchase to replace one.

Over the course of 2 years I promise it would cost a maximum of $12,000 if we had to replace an entire car, radio, and all.

There are a ton of these on Ebay as well....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Cars-Trucks___2005-Impala-Police-LOW-MILES_W0QQitemZ330244195552QQddnZCarsQ20Q26Q20TrucksQQddiZ2282QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item330244195552&#ebayphotohosting

I agree. Why is there a need for a brand-new 2008 police car? First of all, the police person is barely ever here. Second, all he does is cruise around the neighborhood. It's not like he's going to go on a high-speed chase or anything. My car is also 8 years old, and it has over 111,000 miles on it, and I drive it a lot more than the police car is driven, but I'm not even considering a new car. Let's be realistic. A brand-new police car is unnecessary, and is no more of a crime deterrant than a more reasonably priced used car.