COLUMBUS, OH – Forty-one new police cruisers will be hitting the streets in Columbus, Ohio, in the fall, according to the Columbus Dispatch newspaper. The Columbus City Council agreed to buy the 41 Ford Crown Victorias for more than $1.65 million. Thirty-six of the cars will patrol city streets, and five will become freeway cruisers.

Last month, police Commander Mike Springer, who is in charge of the police fleet, told The Dispatch that because police have junked so many cars, there weren’t enough marked cruisers for the summertime police strike force. The strike force patrols high-crime areas during the warm weather.

In March, Springer wrote Police Chief James Jackson that the city has given police only 30 percent of the money it has requested for replacement cars since 2000. The city bought 108 cruisers last year.

Columbus City Councilman Andrew Ginther, who leads the safety committee, said he’d like the city to buy more but the budget has limits.