Foley’s police department has not purchased new patrol vehicles in the past two years, but Deputy Chief Randy Bishop said the department is in a critical state.

According to Bishop there are at least three vehicles on the department’s fleet with more than 150,000 miles on them.

“That is really pushing them to the limit in the patrol area. We have got to get them off the road. I might be able to turn them into an administrative car for a detective, but for patrol they are accumulating too many miles,” Bishop said.

Bishop said in recent years with a down economy and uncertain future, the police department — along with other city departments — cut their budget and cut back their spending. As a result, the department chose not to purchase any cars and to keep spending at a minimum.

“This year we had to get them,” said Bishop. “If we went another year we would be in a critical situation.”

Bishop said the patrol cars get the most wear and tear, and it doesn’t take long to amass a large number of miles.

“They pretty much stay on the road at least 12 out of every 24 hours,” Bishop said. “The miles get put on there pretty quick.”

If one of the cars in the police department’s fleet were to require extensive maintenance, Bishop only has one car that he could use to replace it, which he called a “post car.” Bishop said the department always tries to keep at least one spare car in case of emergencies.

“Your post car is always the one right before it is going to the salvage yard. It is the one that no one wants to drive. It is pretty (worn) out. It is a car you put minimum money into. It would get us by if we had to use it,” Bishop said.

The fiscal budget for 2011 had not been approved by the city council when Bishop pushed approval to go ahead and order three patrol cars because this will be the last year that the department will be able to purchase Crown Victorias.

This is the last year that Ford will be offering full-size Crown Victorias, and according to Bishop, many police departments are jumping onto the order list. Bishop was worried that it would come to a point when Ford stopped accepting orders. 

“We wanted to make sure we had our name on the order list so we can get our three new patrol cars,” Bishop said.

Bishop hopes that in the future the economy will turn around and allow the department to buy five or six cars a year to replace five or six cars in the fleet.

“It would get a good replacement program going so we don’t get to this critical stage again,” Bishop said.

Bishop also hopes in coming years the budget will allow the department to amass enough cars in their fleet to allow all officers to have a take home car. According to Bishop, take home cars would require a lot of capital, but in the long run maintenance costs will decrease.

Bishop said it could be two to four months before the new patrol cars are delivered.