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Gas Prices Unlikely To Affect Squad Car Take-Home Policies

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By ELLEN GEDALIUS and MIKE SALINERO

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 16, 2008

TAMPA - With gas costs higher than ever, city and county officials are looking for ways to save money on fuel.

But don't expect them to even talk about ending the practice of allowing law enforcement officers to take home squad cars.

In Tampa, the city is contractually bound to allow officers to drive the cars home at the end of their shift, even if that drive carries them into Pasco, Polk, Pinellas or Manatee counties.

Ask city council members and county commissioners whether they would even consider talking about the take-home issue, and you hear a lot of hemming and hawing.

"I get a little uncomfortable weighing in on sheriff's matters," county Commissioner Mark Sharpe said.

City council members were just as noncommittal.

"Under the city charter, the off-duty use of city vehicles by city employees is purely an administrative matter for the mayor and her staff to address," Councilman John Dingfelder said in an e-mail.

"I think it would have to come from the chief," Councilman Joseph Caetano said.

Councilman Tom Scott acknowledged that in these tough budget times, everything needs to be looked at but added: "If I have a police car sitting in my neighborhood, it's a wonderful thing."

Councilwoman Linda Saul-Sena said the issue might be worth discussing, but she needed more information.

The police union's contract will be renegotiated next summer.

Freedman isn't surprised that local officials are loath to end the take-home policy.

"It's a police thing and no one wants to offend police officers," Freedman said. "No one wants to appear soft on crime."

Tampa has 1,250 cars in its police fleet, 985 of them for take-home purposes.

Nearly three-quarters of Tampa police officers live outside city limits. About one-third of the force lives outside Hillsborough County.

All 1,163 Deputies Can Take Cars Home

Hillsborough County's Sheriff's Office does not have a union, but all 1,163 deputies are allowed to drive patrol cars home. Deputies who live outside Hillsborough reimburse the department for the mileage from the county line to their homes.

Tampa police officers are allowed to drive city vehicles to homes in any county that adjoins Hillsborough.

Officers who live in Hernando County, for example, are allowed to drive squad cars to the county line and park at a toll plaza or fire station and use their personal vehicles for the remainder of the commute.

Letting law enforcement officers drive squad cars to and from work is a widespread practice, according to the Florida Sheriff's Association. Although most agencies concede the cars are a perk that keeps deputies from jumping to other agencies, they argue the public also benefits through better police coverage.

Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee says a modern sheriff's office can't afford to spend time having deputies change cars between shifts. Hillsborough deputies drive straight to their patrol zones when they start their shift.

Gee recently asked his deputies to cut fuel use by 10 percent. Suggestions for accomplishing that included not letting squad cars idle as much.

Most law enforcement agencies accept as conventional wisdom that an officer or deputy in a squad car is a powerful crime-fighting weapon. Not only does a parked police car deter crime in a neighborhood, they say, but also a fully equipped deputy on his or her way to work can more quickly respond to an emergency.

"It's a crime deterrent when you see a sheriff's car in a neighborhood," county Commissioner Brian Blair said. "If I were a thief, I'd think twice before I went in that neighborhood."

Criminals don't generally recognize whether the car parked in Pasco, for example, belongs to a Tampa police officer or a Pasco sheriff's deputy. Just the sight of a patrol car is enough to deter crime, Tampa Police Chief Stephen Hogue said.

Cruisers on the roads to and from the city also can be a deterrent, he said.

Maintenance costs also tend to be lower when cities have take-home programs, Hogue said. Cruisers are replaced every seven years. When the city suspended its take-home program, vehicles were replaced every three years. That's partly because officers tend to take better care of the cars when they are used under a take-home plan, Hogue said.

Take-home cars are also a retention tool, Stout, the union chief, said. It's something officers look for, along with pay, when weighing job opportunities.

That Part Of Contract To Stand

Iorio and Hogue said they have no plans to alter the take-home part of the contract.

"When you look at the past 25 years of crime statistics, the time crime really peaked was during that period," Iorio said. "The relationship between the police department and the mayor's office was horrible. It was a great example of penny wise, pound foolish."

She said allowing officers to continue taking home cars is a small concession to keep morale high. She also said she wouldn't entertain a compromise allowing officers to take home cars but reimbursing the city for mileage beyond the city or county line. The bookkeeping would be too complicated, she said.

However, other cities are doing it or thinking about it.

In Clearwater, officers driving 15 miles or more beyond police headquarters will pay 29 cents a mile back to the city.

In Pasco County, Sheriff Bob White recently stopped allowing deputies to use take-home cars for personal use, such as going to the grocery store or the post office.

In Buffalo, the mayor wants to cut the department's take-home fleet from 50 vehicles to 30. The issue is wending its way through the court system, and the union is threatening to not support the mayor during his re-election campaign.

To this day, Freedman doesn't regret yanking cars from police officers. "It was the right thing to do," Freedman said. "It's the right thing to do today, but it'll never happen. Doing the right thing comes with a high price."

Reporter Ellen Gedalius can be reached at egedalius@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7679. Reporter Mike Salinero can be reached at (813) 259-8303 or msalinero@tampatrib.com.

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