Car program needs accountability

For many South Floridians, the idea of a police car parked overnight in the neighborhood is a comforting thought.

But as recent stories by Sun Sentinel reporter Larry Barszewski showed, a couple of things about police take-home cars are not comforting at all.

First, taxpayers have no idea how much they’re spending to provide this perk.

Secondly— and even more worrisome— many police departments don’t knowhow much they’re spending to provide this perk.

Of18 area police agencies examined by the newspaper, none – not a single one – knew how much it cost to provide officers with take-home cars.

Now consider that more than 4,250 officers in Broward and southern Palm Beach counties drive department-issued cars home when they go off duty.

At a time when municipal governments are laying off employees, cutting services and raising fees, the widespread lack of accountability in take-home car programs is shocking.

The Sun Sentinel determined the costs can be considerable. At the Davie Police Department, for example, 10 officers make round-trip commutes of roughly100 miles each to northern Palm Beach County. Applying the federal government’s reimbursement rate of 55-cents per mile, that means Davie taxpayers pay more than $100,000 a year to help these officers commute.

The newspaper’s investigation found some cities restrict take-home cars to city limits, but most don’t. Some departments require officers to take their cars directly to and fromwork, but others allow stops along theway. Some departments even allow officers to take their cars on family outings.

Meanwhile, the taxpayer pays unlimited sums for gas, repairs, insurance and wear and tear.

Yes, there are benefits to the program, in addition to the feeling of security for residents— although we fail to see how an unmarked car makes anyone feel more secure.

But police officials say the program helps morale. According to Delray Beach Mayor Woodie McDuffie, the perk of a take-home car is needed to attract and retain the best police force. We get all that. But again, when you are dealing with taxpayer money, police agencies must be accountable for what is spent, and why.

And reasonable limits are necessary, particularly when data shows only 26 percent of the officers with take-home cars live in the cities they serve.

Dominic Calabro, president of TaxWatch, says there should be a verifiable value for the take-home car programs.

“A lot of it is good common sense,” Calabro told us. “The price has to be reasonable, and there have to be reasonable parameters. You don’twant 25 police cars on one street.” What do police agencies need to do? They need to document howthe takehome car program improves public safety. They need to impose reasonable restrictions on mileage and track costs in a clear way. And they need to make the information available to we, the taxpayers, who are footing the bill.

Your tax dollars at work. Or not.