POLICE: BUDGET CUTS RESTRICT CAR REPLACEMENT

High mileage on some Cape Girardeau patrol cars could be putting the public at risk by jeopardizing a police officer's ability to respond to an emergency.

Police officers acknowledged that such a situation could happen with some of the Cape Girardeau Police Department patrol cars. Five of nine cars assigned to patrol shifts at the department have more than 100,000 miles on them.

"It's kind of bad when you're driving a car with a loose front end and excessive miles on it and you've got to speed up to catch someone and a wheel comes off," one Cape Girardeau patrolman said.

"You're not only putting our lives in jeopardy; you're putting everyone else's lives in jeopardy," said the patrolman, who wished to remain anonymous.

Such an incident, he said, occurred to a patrolman in 1988 or 1989 while the officer was driving a car with 89,000 or 90,000 miles on it. The officer now works at the Chesterfield Police Department under former Cape Girardeau Police Chief Ray Johnson, he said.

"The wheel just popped off while he was driving down the roadway," said the Cape Girardeau officer. "I don't know if he hit a bump in the road or what happened, but boom: he's on three wheels. That was kind of a scary experience."

The patrolman said the whole wheel assembly came off the car. He said he believed the assembly had popped loose at the ball joints.

City officials, though, said Thursday they didn't feel the cars were unsafe. The city is unable to replace all the vehicles this coming fiscal year because of what city officials say is a tight budget. The police department is scheduled to receive three new cars soon.

Kevin McMeel works at the city's Public Works Department, 219 N. Kingshighway, where city vehicles are maintained. McMeel, assistant public works director, said he didn't believe a patrolman risked hitting a tree after having the front end of a vehicle go out, but the patrolman may have a car battery go dead.

"I would agree that the vehicles are well-maintained despite their age and mileage," said Assistant City Manager Al Stoverink. "Obviously when you're relying on vehicles of over 100,000 miles you're going to have more potential for breakdowns."

A patrol vehicle breaking down as it responds to an emergency, and in effect putting someone at risk, is "a pretty extreme possibility," Stoverink said. "That could happen with a brand-new car."

Chief of Police Howard "Butch" Boyd said he was aware that five of the department's nine patrol cars exceeded 100,000 miles. Carl Pease, patrolman in the department's maintenance division, said the recommended replacement mileage for the vehicles, as suggested by the Missouri Department of Public Safety, is 80,000 miles.

A Jan. 27 interoffice memo provided by the patrolman shows four patrol cars to have more than 100,000 miles at the end of 1991. The memo, a computer printout, then lists in writing the mileage of four patrol cars as of May 19: 140,000; 121,600; 152,888; and 115,680. It lists no mileage for a fifth patrol car on May 19 that had 108,837 miles at the end of 1991.

The estimated ending mileage totals for the five cars in 1992, respectively, are 172,520; 157,372; 179,042; 147,442; and 166,221.

Boyd said the department is getting three new cars through the city's current budget that ends June 30. The cars, Ford Crown Victorias, are due to be delivered Monday.

Last year, he said, the department added four new vehicles.

The coming fiscal year budget, which takes effect July 1, also sets aside $45,000 for vehicles, Boyd said. Boyd said the first proposed city budget that came out excluded money for police vehicles, but he told city officials the department needed cars and the money was later added.

Instead of patrol cars, cars for the department's detective unit may be bought with the money, Boyd said. The department needs detective cars badly, he said.

A second patrolman, who also requested anonymity, said the detective unit picks up its cars from those already used in patrol. According to the memo, the detective unit, as of the end of 1991, had four vehicles with mileage totals of 166,324; 88,923; 56,580; and 55,675.

The patrolman said two or three of the 1990 or 1989 model police cars are continually in the garage at the Public Works Department for maintenance or repairs.

The patrolman said: "They're out of service for however long it takes to fix a problem. It may be something as small as a door handle (being) broken and it may be something as major as a transmission problem, and that's happened occasionally.

"The thing about it is, after (a vehicle) reaches that 80,000-mile limit it becomes a hazard because of the possibility that it can break down quicker. That's why they recommend the 80,000 limit, because it's resalable and you don't run into major maintenance costs."

The 1991 maintenance costs for two of the cars listed as having more than 100,000 miles at the end of the year were $6,663.29 and $5,139.02. A third patrol car with 97,858 miles had maintenance costs of $4,013.89. A fourth patrol car, which had only 25,804 miles at the end of 1991, had maintenance costs of $3,528.35.

McMeel said there's no pattern to when a police vehicle might require major repairs. A vehicle could have a major problem at 20,000 or 100,000 miles, he said. McMeel said a city police vehicle is usually in the Public Works Department garage every day either for minor or major repairs.

Patrol cars in particular age quickly, he said, due to being operated virtually 24 hours a day. Plus, he said, when the cars are new, they are subjected to 3,000 to 4,000 miles per month.

Stoverink said the city will be able to spend more on city police cars in subsequent years if it can maintain its funding for capital outlays that it is spending in the coming fiscal year budget. In the coming fiscal year, he said, the city must replace a 27-year-old fire pumper truck at a cost of $180,000 and a street sweeper.

"Those are some of the things that have been deferred for some time, and it's catching up with us, said Stoverink. "Police cars are another area," he said.

This year's budget shows an increase of $200,000 or $300,000 in the general fund for capital outlays, he said.