NASHVILLE, TN – The Metro Police Department has parked 134 vehicles to comply with the mayor’s call to reduce the fleet and save money on gas, according to www.tennessean.com.
With the largest fleet of cars in the city, the police department made the biggest cut. More than 10 percent of its fleet of 1,292 vehicles is now parked with the keys turned into Metro government.
According to a list provided by Metro police, many cars belong to school resource officers who be required to drive personal cars instead of marked patrol cars to their jobs at local high schools. Many of the remaining cuts are detectives’ vehicles, patrol cars, and vans used for SWAT or evidence collection, and motorcycles used to patrol the downtown.
However, Metro police spokesman Don Aaron said that many of the cars were backup vehicles and not used daily anyway. The rest were cars that department heads thought would be the least likely to affect their core function of patrolling the streets.
In June, Mayor Karl Dean called for each department to trim its fleet by roughly 10 percent to achieve a citywide goal of a $1.4 million cut in operating costs to compensate for the hike in fuel prices.
Dean also asked departments to limit take-home cars whenever possible. The police cut nearly 50 from their take-home roster but officers who live within Davidson County are still allowed and encouraged to take their cars home to their neighborhoods, for emergency preparation and a deterrent to criminals.
The Nashville Fire Department also parked 33 of 329 vehicles and cut take-home car assignments from 53 to 30.
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