SHREWSBURY — Problems with the borough’s police cars continued this past week when three patrol vehicles went into the shop and out of commission.
Police Chief John Wilson III said because of the shortage of cars he had to cancel a scheduled special overtime shift both Friday and Saturday.
But, he said, the two patrol cars that were available were sufficient for officers working regular shifts to patrol the borough as usual.
Councilman Terel Cooperhouse, head of the Police Committee, said one of the three cars that had been out of commission was back in service Monday, and that the committee is waiting for a report from George Wall Lincoln-Mercury on the condition of all the cars before deciding what to do next.
Wilson maintained there has been no interference with patrols on regular shifts. But, he said, extensive testing is being done on all 10 cars in the police department’s fleet to find out everything that’s wrong with each one.
When he has that report, he will present it to the Police Committee and sit down with the members to discuss it, he said. Asked when that would be, he said, "We don’t have any date — hopefully, before the next council meeting."
Cooperhouse said as soon as he received a copy of the letter about the alleged poor condition of the police department’s fleet of cars that Patrolman Daniel J. Lloyd, president of PBA Local 308, wrote to Mayor Emilia Siciliano about, he asked a member of the executive committee of the PBA for a meeting.
"We had a very successful meeting the next day," he reported.
"Up until two weeks ago," he added, when he first saw the letter, he noted that "the Police Committee was not aware of any issues with the police vehicles."
Cooperhouse said he asked the executive committee of the PBA why it hadn’t come to the Police Committee or to the police chief, in keeping with procedures, with its assertions about the condition of the cars rather than go to the newspaper.
"I said to the executive committee of the PBA, ‘You guys come to me on issues of less importance; why not now?’ " he asked. "They said they thought we knew."
"If there are issues with our vehicles, we’ll get to the bottom of it and take appropriate action," he promised.
He said the Police Committee is waiting for the report on what repairs are required following which the cars will be taken to the borough garage. If that garage is too busy, the needed repairs will be made at a dealership.
"I want it done as quickly as possible," he said.
Wilson said one of the three cars that went into the shop had an electrical problem, and the wire that was the source of it was found and fixed. He said the other two had a problem with the exhaust system where plastic was used instead of metal on the manifold, which was a defect in manufacturing.
Cooperhouse said the Finance Committee of the council and the Police Committee spent hours on vehicles as they worked their way through preparation of this year’s budget. He said they met with the police chief and captain and asked if they could get along with the vehicles they had. It would be the second year in a row without acquiring any new cars.
"The answer we got back was they could make it through another year," he said. "Next year, we told them, we will lease two vehicles under the county."
Siciliano said Lloyd’s letter should never have been sent to her, but should have gone to the Police Committee of the Borough Council. She said that under the law anything that occurs in the police department or is brought to its attention is to go to the chief and then the Police Committee.
Lloyd suggested the problems with the police department vehicles put the officers who drive them and the motoring public at risk, and could expose the borough to a lawsuit with damages if someone should be injured.
Wilson, however, said the vehicles do not represent a threat to either officers or the public and have not caused an interruption in regular patrols.