Council allocates $400,000 to avoid deeper police vehicle cuts

Council debated a staff proposal to hold off on replacing roughly 20 police vehicles — a cost‑saving measure staff said could help avoid a proposed 10% pay cut — and a chief’s explanation of which vehicles would be paused and which could be purchased out of lease returns. Chief Jeff Barnett described a plan that would pause replacement of five marked patrol cars, consider purchasing six termed‑out leased vehicles for about $400 each, and identify nine additional vehicles that would be removed under the first tier of reductions.

After a sustained back‑and‑forth on operational impact, Mayor (speaker 2) moved to approve $400,000 to cover the full delta so the department would not have to decommission the full set of vehicles; the motion was seconded and passed in a roll‑call vote. Chief Barnett said the funding would allow the department to maintain patrol, detective and supervisory fleets and avoid compounding operational impacts. "I believe that we can continue to function. Without that money ... there would be additional vehicles that would be removed from our police fleet," he said.