Pine Bluff Police Department Assistant Chief Ivan Whitfield asked Pine Bluff City Council Public Safety Committee members Monday to support leasing 10 vehicles this year.
Whitfield told Aldermen Thelma Walker, Bill Brumett and George Stepps that many police cars have exceeded 125,000 miles, the threshold for replacing them with newer cars.
“We have grave concern about our patrol units,” Whitfield said. “We have vehicles with 125,000 miles.”
City finance department director Steve Miller said there is an emergency vehicle fund and it should generate about $75,000 by the end of 2015.
Whitfield said the fund currently has $3,600. Whitfield said he needs at least $8,000 to lease one car or a total of $80,000 to lease 10 cars.
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Stepps said that they can finance eight or nine vehicles if there is not enough money to lease 10 vehicles.
Pine Bluff Police Chief Jeff Hubanks requested Ford Interceptors and Dodge Chargers.
“We will request more vehicles next year,” Hubanks said. “We need 10 vehicles this year.”
Alderman Steven Mays said he wants the cars to be leased from a Pine Bluff automobile dealer. Stepps told Mays that they cannot choose Pine Bluff but must abide by state bid requirements.
In other business, Whitfield requested human resources director Vickie Conaway and finance director Steve Miller look into the pay structure for Pine Bluff police officers who have worked for the department for one year or two years.
Whitfield said these Pine Bluff police officers are currently earning $29,370. By point of comparison, Whitfield said that Pine Bluff Fire and Emergency Services employees with one or two years experience are currently earning $31,306 annually.