Public to get a chance to inspect police vehicles before auction

The vehicles are a mix of trucks, old cruisers, SUVs and detectives’ cars.

Staff report

BOARDMAN — For the next few weeks it may look like a used-car lot at the township government center.

But if you are handy with a wrench and have some mechanical know-how you might just want to drive past the front parking lot and take a look at the offerings for the next police vehicle auction.

Township police have lined up surplus vehicles in the parking lot adjacent to Market Street so the public can inspect them while arrangements are made to schedule a public auction. The vehicles are a mix of trucks, vans, SUVs, old cruisers and old, plainclothes detectives’ cars that no longer meet the standards for police use.

Police will mark the mileage, year of the vehicle and vehicle number on the front windshield, and those who are interested may stop by the police records room and ask to see the vehicle maintenance files for any vehicle being auctioned. Additional vehicles will be added to the line once police equipment has been removed.

“We do not have time to take calls or questions about the vehicles,” Police Chief Patrick Berarducci said. “The auctioneer will deal with those inquiries once we have made arrangements for the auction.

“Make no mistake; This is not your grandma’s Buick we are talking about. Most of these vehicles have been run hard and are in need of repair. Go into a purchase with your eyes open.”

Money raised from the auction will be used to purchase equipment needed to outfit new cruisers as they come in.

In years past, the department auctioned its cruisers at about 100,000 miles — getting a few thousand dollars for them. The 15 cruisers with the lowest mileage are used for front-line patrol officers, seven days a week, 24 hours a day. The goal is to make sure that no patrol vehicle is driven more than two eight-hour shifts a day, which helps extend the service life of the vehicle.

As the mileage approaches 100,000 the vehicle is taken out of patrol service and assigned as a take-home car for officers living in the township, giving police even greater visibility in the neighborhoods. They also remain a source for emergency replacement of a patrol vehicle that is damaged or breaks down.

Mike Carkido, township police mechanic, performs the regular preventive maintenance on the fleet, keeping repair costs to a few hundred dollars per year on each vehicle, which allows this program to work.

“Barring a bad accident or unusual incident, we are shooting to get 200,000 miles on a car with this program,” Berarducci said. “When the pendulum starts to swing against us with maintenance costs or reliability, then we sell it.”