It's been proven, not only locally but throughout other departments nationally that the take-home car program does indeed reduce costs in the long-run, as far as vehicle maintenance costs are concerned. Then there's the (sometimes intangible) benefit of the increased (perceived) police-presence as a crime deterrent. One of the reasons LMPD is (and has been) in a car-crunch for years is that in 2003/04 there was zero money budgeted for vehicle purchases (first year of merged government...thanks Jer).
It's been proven, not only locally but throughout other departments nationally that the take-home car program does indeed reduce costs in the long-run, as far as vehicle maintenance costs are concerned. Then there's the (sometimes intangible) benefit of the increased (perceived) police-presence as a crime deterrent. One of the reasons LMPD is (and has been) in a car-crunch for years is that in 2003/04 there was zero money budgeted for vehicle purchases (first year of merged government...thanks Jer).