Police examine support car program

The Avon Police Department is examining a program to reduce police response times.

On Feb. 5, police Chief Richard Bosley made a presentation to City Council in regards to the support car program, which enables Avon patrol officers living in city limits to take their cars home.

As part of a continuing dialogue between the city’s administration and Police Department, Mayor Bryan Jensen said they want to expand the program to include more officers.

“I think the biggest thing is when the call to service comes in, they aren’t going to the station, they are going right to the call. We thought even that alone right there makes it a very positive aspect,” Jensen said. “Talking to other departments, it has all been a positive having the vehicles in their neighborhoods.”

Presently, there are nine positions in the Police Department taking cars home and the department will explore establishing a voluntary program in collaboration with the city administration.

“What we’ve noticed over the past few years is we have adequate staffing,” Bosley said. “But on occasion, we get a call for service where we need much more personnel much more rapidly.

“One of things we’ve found we can do to enhance that is for all of the officers who live in town to take their cars home with them.”

Bosley stressed with the current department employees who take their cars home, including officers in the detective bureau and the K-9 unit, response times have been greatly reduced by allowing officers to get on scene quickly in emergency situations, dropping from 30 minutes to about five minutes.

Instead of having to return to the station, officers can head directly to the scene when a call comes in, he said.

The Police Department is looking to add seven officers who reside in Avon to participate.

“For officers who already do take cars home, as soon as they put their clothes on, they are on the street, ready to go, whether it is responding to the nature of the call we are dealing with, or if it’s because every unit available is tied up and is going to be tied up for a while,” Bosley said. “They can begin taking the calls since our emergency call for service would be called in.

“We think in times of emergency, it would create great value for the citizens.”

If the Police Department were to move forward, the current fleet of vehicles would support it.

“Speaking to other agencies that have the support car program like this, they have been getting really good longevity from their cars,” Bosley said. “But some departments have told us they are getting 14 to 15 years out of their cars, which would be quite a feat for us.”

He cited examples of car crashes requiring roads to be shut down, missing and endangered children and the recent case of about 10 telephone poles falling over on Nagel Road in April 2017, as situations where quicker responses could have an impact.