POLICE CARS AND THE "TAKE HOME" POLICY

Councilman Price took a lot of heat about his decision to table the ordinance concerning the appropriation of funds to purchase new police cars.



I must agree with him on this one. If some of the police officers did not drive their squad cars out of New Albany the cars might last longer. I understand the reasoning about having the cars in plain sight at all times and having their equipment handy in case of emergency. But if an officer lives outside of New Albany, much less Floyd County, it makes no sense to take the car home since the officer will be out of his/her jurisdiction.



I was told by a retired fire official that several years ago it was mandatory that an applicant be a New Albany resident to be hired by the New Albany Police or Fire Department. While that policy might not be practical today, it would make sense for this rule to apply to take home cars.