Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard announced a makeover to the Sheriff’s Office patrol vehicles, which will bring more department cost savings, last week.
‘In an effort to keep public safety priority number one, we are doing what we can, where we can to squeeze more efficiencies into our everyday operations,? Bouchard said of these ‘tight-budget times.?
‘Taking a look at our patrol cars and implementing some doable changes is one more step toward this goal,? he added.
One of the changes the Sheriff’s department is implementing includes replacing V8 engine patrol cars with V6 engines.
Other changes to the patrol cars include flex fuel ready vehicles which are environmentally friendly and plans to downscale the size and engine of prisoner transport vans. In addition, there are mid-size vehicles which will be replaced with compact cars, again for better fuel efficiency.
The makeover process will begin this year with a complete fleet change-over to be finalized in three years.
Cost savings this year alone will be approximately $220,000, which includes vehicle purchase cost savings of near $100,000 and fuel efficiency savings of $120,000.
‘The good news is that we can make these changes, save taxpayer dollars and not compromise the safety of the public or our officers,? Bouchard said.