LAMBERTVILLE: City mulls buying SUV for police

By Linda Seida, Staff Writer
   LAMBERTVILLE — The city is considering the purchase of a new vehicle for the Police Department.
   The mayor and City Council recently introduced an ordinance that would authorize spending $45,000 for an SUV or sport-utility vehicle.
   If approved, it would be the Lambertville Police Department’s first SUV.
   The needs of the city require at least one vehicle capable of handling the outlying hilly terrain, especially in inclement weather, Acting Clerk Cynthia Ege and Police Director Bruce Cocuzza both said.
   Recent winters that dropped heavy snowfall and ice on Lambertville’s streets highlighted the need for such a vehicle, they said.
   Mr. Cocuzza said he advised the city Lambertville “should have at least one four-wheel drive vehicle to go up hills in inclement weather.”
   He explained, “It’s very, very difficult getting around town in heavy snowfall in a two-wheel drive vehicle.”
   The council will hold a public hearing on the ordinance during the regular monthly meeting June 20. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. at the Justice Center, 25 S. Union St.
   If officials approve the expenditure, the director said he hopes the purchase can be completed, and the city can put the SUV into duty by this summer.
   Although Mr. Cocuzza said no make or model has been determined yet, and he isn’t ruling anything out, he doubts a hybrid vehicle could fill the Police Department’s needs.
   Ecology-minded citizens in the past have pushed the city to integrate more “green” vehicles for the department.
   ”In the past, we looked at hybrids,” Mr. Cocuzza said. “Size-wise and operationally, they’re unsuitable as a full-service police vehicle.”
   He added, “But nothing is written in stone.”
   The department has one hybrid vehicle that is used only for parking enforcement.
   Hybrids do not have the size or speed needed by police to perform their jobs efficiently and safely, Mr. Cocuzza said when the city last looked into a new vehicle purchase in 2010.
   About a year ago, the city put into service a new Ford Crown Victoria outfitted with a special police package for slightly less than $30,000. Included in that price was $7,000 for the special police features. It replaced a badly worn out cruiser that had more than 100,000 miles of use.
   Cost also played a factor in ruling out the hybrid last year. When equipped with the special police package — light bar, cage, window guards and a hard plastic prisoner seat, among other additions — the hybrid would have cost about $7,000 more.