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By BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
A recent minor traffic accident involving a Decatur Police Department car has brought forth a nice surprise: money available to purchase a new vehicle.
Police Chief Kevin Gerber told the city’s board of works and safety at its recent meeting that one officer was driving and another was a passenger when the vehicle struck a post in a city lot on Sept. 17.
The car was only going 15 mph at the time and neither officer was injured.
Damages were hefty, though, mainly because every air bag in the vehicle inflated. Getting them all back in order is a costly venture.
The chief had a quote of an estimated $18,970 to make full repairs. The car has only 40,000 miles on it and most of the department vehicles are used until reaching about 100,000 miles.
And it’s still under warranty.
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Meanwhile, Gerber said the Tom Kelley dealership in Decatur has a new Ford Interceptor on its lot which would work fine for the local PD. In searching his budget for funds, Gerber discovered $44,328 for a new police car in the 2022 budget wasn’t used and had been encumbered (carried over) to the current budget.
So Gerber recommended purchasing the new car and repairing the old one, in part “because we don’t know how long this (United Auto Workers) strike will go on.”
Board member Craig Coshow moved to have the purchase of the new car made and it was approved. Mayor Dan Rickord, however, said that before it was decided whether to make repairs to the damaged vehicle, Gerber should get two more quotes.