Girard police seek to replace aging fleet of cruisers

GIRARD — City officials are working to devise a plan to replace the city’s aging fleet of police cars, but for officers, using the current police cruisers has become a daily battle.

Earlier this month, officers were sent to the Trumbull Avenue home of a man who claimed he had doused himself in gasoline and was prepared to commit suicide by striking a match and igniting himself. When officers arrived at the address, they could smell gasoline in the air.

After checking the man, officers determined that the man had not doused himself with gasoline. The smell of gasoline in the air was coming from a previously undiscovered leak in one of the cruisers being used by the officers.

Police officials say that stories of unsafe conditions with police cruisers has become almost a daily occurrence with the aging fleet of cars.

The city last purchased a fleet of police cars in 1996. At that time, 18 were purchased. One of those vehicles was destroyed in an accident, three are now being used for spare parts, and 14 are still patrolling city streets.

According to police, one officer recently lost his brakes while on routine patrol, but did not wreck the vehicle and was not injured. Another officer was driving a different cruiser and the grips on the steering wheel came apart while he was driving.

One of the remaining 14 cars has rusted out floorboards allowing the elements to creep into the car through the floor. Officers sometimes drive unmarked cruisers without overhead lights for routine patrols when too many marked units are down for repair.

Read the complete story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com