Kosciusko Police Chief Chris Wray gained the approval of the Board of Aldermen for a take-home vehicle policy allowing patrolmen to take police vehicles to their residences after shifts. Previously, only the chief and two KPD investigators had take-home vehicles.
Wray said the effort will lessen wear-and-tear on vehicles, further establish a presence in the community, help recruit more certified officers, and boost the morale of the department.
“I think that we need to have a take-home car policy since we have officers taking vehicles home, but I also want to extend the take-home car policy to the patrol division because right now, our patrol division does not take their cars home,” Wray told the aldermen.
Wray said the way shifts are set up, officers regularly drive the vehicles for 48 or 72 hours consecutively.
“A day shift officer will come in and work a 12-hour shift. A night shift officer will come in and work a 12-hour shift. Then, that day shift officer comes in and works a 12-hour shift and a night shift officer works a 12-hour shift,” said Wray. “If it’s a weekend, there's another day in there, Sunday. So, that's 72 straight hours that a patrol car is being driven without a break. I feel like it would be better if we instituted a policy where the vehicles were being driven 12 on and 12 off, so that car gets a break every day.”
Wray said two officers will be assigned to a single car, and maintenance of the vehicle would be the officers’ responsibility.
“Right now, our cars are kind of like cool cars, which means you can jump in whatever car is available or you would like to drive,” he said. “Now, most officers have a car that they regularly drive, but this way, they would actually be assigned a vehicle. If they're assigned a vehicle, then they’re going to be expected to properly maintain the vehicle.”
When discussing the sense of ownership the policy will encourage, Wray made an analogy comparing how one would treat a rental car rather than an owned vehicle.
“If you've ever driven a rental car, you don't take pride and care in a rental car. You know, you treat it however you want to treat it because it's not your car,” he said. “If I assign you a vehicle, and I allow you to take that car home, you're going to have a sense of pride and have some ownership in that vehicle; you're going to take better care of it and keep it clean.”
Wray said he has calculated expenses, and based on the department’s current personnel, the estimated cost would be under $2,000 to allow every officer living within 15 miles of the city limits to take home their vehicles.
“If you look at our budget, under Section 525 of gas and oil. We are budgeted $50,000 for gas and oil,” he said. “Last year, in the 2021 budget year, we spent $32,238. So, we were $20,000 underneath what we were budgeted for.”
The police chief also thinks having police cars parked in the community is a positive way to establish presence. He said officers’ cars serve as an office to many patrolmen due to the extensive time spent in their cruiser each shift.
Mayor Tim Kyle added that a big part of recruiting younger officers is having quality police vehicles.
“If you talk, especially to these younger guys, the car is the big ticket,” said Kyle at the meeting. “They want a nice car because, like I say, that is their office. That's where they work.”
Ward Two Alderman Henry Daniel asked Wray how many vehicles the department currently has available. Wray said there are eight patrol-ready vehicles in the patrol division, but he plans on using six for the program and keeping two as spares.
Mayor Kyle said he talked to several other mayors at the 2021 Small Town Conference in Hattiesburg, and the mayor of Natchez told him having a partnership with Enterprise Rent-A-Car was the best thing they have done for the Natchez Police Department. Essentially, officers use cars until they hit a certain mileage, then trade them in for new vehicles.
“When those cars hit 60,000 (miles), they roll them over and get new cars,” said Kyle. “And he said their officers are tickled to death.”
While not part of the newly approved policy, it may be an option for the future, Kyle said.
Wray said he plans to train officers on the policy and how to properly maintain the vehicles. He hopes to implement the policy this week.
