At their meeting on June 7, the Alliance City Council took action to approve the purchase of new vehicles to add to the Alliance Police Department fleet.
The resolution was introduced by Council Member Earl Jones. The goal of the resolution was to allow the purchase of four used patrol vehicles from Eagle County, Colo., for a total of $51,000.
Before the vote, Council Member Brian Mischnick questioned the need for the vehicles.
“With all the patrol vehicles parked around town, what’s the need for this?” Mischnick asked.
City Manager Seth Sorensen said two vehicles would be used to replace two that are in disrepair, and the other two would be used for new officers who are on full-time training. APD Chief Phil Lukens agreed with Sorensen’s explanation.
“The other part is when we had two officers get deployed overseas, we said why would we leave patrol cars just sitting in the parking lot collecting dust,” Lukens said. “So, we started utilizing them, and they’ve actually become very effective in our crime-prevention strategies, and our crime is witnessing a great reduction because of where we are putting the cars. It’s reducing accidents, and it’s reducing crime.”
Lukens explained that the vehicles parked in various locations around Alliance are the ones that need the most maintenance.
“We have two officers coming out of training in July,” said Lukens. “We’re going to need to have them in cars, and we are going to have to, we have one car already that has a transmission that is pretty well toast. So, it’s cheaper to buy another used one than it is to fix that car. We’d rather rotate those out and keep getting something that’s in better shape.”
Mayor Mike Dafney asked Lukens for an update on the two officers who were deployed.
“Originally, it was supposed to be October when they came back, but now there’s word, there’s no official word, but there’s word it could be extended another up to six months,” Lukens said. “At this point in time, I don’t have a definitive answer at all, but I need to be ready when they get back.”
Dafney emphasized that the city appreciates their service. Council members voted unanimously to approve the purchase of the four vehicles.