HARTFORD, CT – An internal audit of the Hartford Police Department (HPD) has uncovered that more than 40 percent of the department’s 289 police cruisers are underutilized, and that the city could do a better job filing claims against third parties at fault in police cruiser accidents, according to the Hartford Business Journal.

In a review of HPD equipment during Fiscal Year 2005, the audit identified 15 action items where the city needed to improve its overall management of the police department’s fleet of cruisers, including a review of 90 accidents involving police cruisers. The audit uncovered lax oversight regarding how multiple city departments manage the HPD fleet, particularly in how claims are filed against third parties at fault to pay for accident repairs.

As a result, the audit concluded that with a more structured and concerted effort, the city would have had a greater potential to collect more than $96,000 owed it for cruiser accidents.

The audit also found that the police department’s fleet is substantially underutilized. About 40 percent (127) of the HPD fleet had either not been driven in over a year or driven less than 6,000 miles in a year. Forty-eight cruisers had no reported mileage in more than a year, 60 averaged less than 6,000 miles per year, and 19 had been out of service for four to six months, according to the Hartford Business Journal.

Among the action items, the audit found several inconsistencies in the city’s compliance with its own reporting requirements and a general lack of established policies in how it goes about, and follows through on, collecting money owed the city for cruiser accidents.