Hybrid vehicles to join police fleet

Commissioners approved the purchase of seven new police vehicles at their June 5 meeting.

The Longboat Key Police Department is adding new police vehicles to its fleet in an effort to improve officer retention and become a more desirable place at which to work.

Town commissioners approved the resolution to purchase seven new police vehicles at their June 5 regular meeting.

This addition will bring hybrid vehicles to the fleet and eliminate the “hot-seat” situation the department currently has. “Hot seating” is the practice of using a police vehicle 24 hours per day, seven days a week. When one officer closes a shift, the departing officer immediately passes off the vehicle to the incoming officer, thus keeping the seat “hot.”

The purchase of new cars will allow officers to have a dedicated vehicle that they can drive home as well. The town originally planned to purchase the vehicles at the start of the next fiscal year in October, according to Town Manager Howard Tipton.

“We found the need to recommend to the board at the May budget workshop the opportunity to reduce cost and increase officer satisfaction, recruitment and retainment. In that, the town would look to purchase seven new patrol vehicles,” Tipton said.

While the town had plans to purchase seven vehicles, Tipton said that staff recently learned of five hybrid police vehicles available for purchase, leading to the recommendation to buy before October.

“Supply chain issues and the desire to be as competitive as possible in the hiring arena are driving staff’s recommendation of this approval,” Tipton said.

The total cost of adding seven cars will be $637,000. This price includes the vehicles, in-car cameras, car cradles and patrol car mobile data terminals. According to Tipton, these funds come from the Sarasota Infrastructure Sales Tax Fund, money that has already been collected. It will not have any serious impact on the fund moving forward. The cost of hybrid vehicles as opposed to standard models is about $5,000 higher each, an extra cost that is said to be offset by savings on fuel over time.

“Among other things, the purchase of these vehicles is another step in the direction of our recognition of environmental responsibility,” Mayor Key Schneier said.

The need to be more competitive in the workforce was a sentiment shared by many commissioners.

The first order of new business in the June 5 meeting was the approval of a memorandum of understanding — eventually leading to a contract — between Longboat Key Police Department and Southwest Florida Police Benevolent Association. This contract will serve to make significant changes to wages and benefits for officers. A similar memorandum of understanding was approved for Longboat Key Fire Rescue. The town found that it was falling behind in terms of pay, retirement contributions and take-home vehicles, which made it difficult to fill vacancies, according to Tipton.

Commissioner BJ Bishop was in full support of the contract.

“I think we are moving forward to hopefully never see this get this far out of kilt again, but I would also urge human resources to be much more proactive in letting us know and staying on top of this,” Bishop said.

Tipton said the new vehicles in the fleet are a major step forward in making the police department a more desirable place to work, while also contributing to the community’s environmental sustainability.