As the 1980s pop song said, money changes everything. For the Secaucus police department, a $900,000 federal grant has allowed officials to dramatically change their philosophy when acquiring vehicles. Last week, the Town Council agreed to seek bids for the purchase of four new police cars, doing away with leasing policy the council set up last year when tight budgeting considerations made it difficult to put out cash for cars. Councilman John Bueckner said he approved of the purchase, preferring it to leasing. Town Administrator Anthony Iacono said that until this grant was received, the town had no option but to lease. The grant is part from the Community Oriented Police Service (COPS) program, which funnels federal money into local police departments. Both policies mark a different approach to the police fleet than had been considered in past administrations. Over the last decade, Town Hall curtailed the purchase of new vehicles as a means of helping balance the municipal budget. Tax appeals and the aftermath of the 1992 recession left officials with hard choices and required cuts in every department. This, according to Mayor Dennis Elwell, put much more mileage on the cars, and left little or no down time to do ordinary maintenance. The new concept is to purchase more cars, leaving some unused during certain shifts, allowing vehicles to acquire mileage more slowly and provide time for consistent maintenance. Over the last six years, the police have made do with vehicles that nearly outlived their usefulness. Many of the cars have passed the 100,000-mile mark. Elwell said repair costs over the last three years have been nearly $50,000, or about $10,000 short of what this contract offers to provide new vehicles to the department. And the wear and tear didn’t only affect the police. The medical escort service, vehicles used to provide seniors with rides to hospitals and doctors, suffered as well. Since these vehicles were usually handed down from the police department, they were often in poor shape and less than reliable. Last year, breakdowns in these vehicles left drivers and passengers stranded in remote places. In one instance, this year, a wheel fell off one vehicle while driving on the New Jersey Turnpike. Bueckner suggested the town might have to purchase quality used vehicles to help boost the medical service. The town will pass down to the medical escort service vehicles with less mileage and in better shape as a result of the new round of purchases. “We’re also going to expend some of the Community Development Block Grant money to purchase a small van that will be handicapped accessible,” Elwell said. Community Development Block Grants, federal money dispersed by the state, are separate from the $900,000 COPS grant. The federal money became a political battleground last year, when then-Mayor Anthony Just disputed some of the claims made by grantwriters on behalf of the town in the application. After a flurry of correspondence between Just and COPS officials, the money was granted with a usage waiver. Under a Just initiative to reduce the number of police officers, early retirements and other issues cut the force from 72 to 48 members by 1998. While federal dollars were available for hiring and equipping new officers, the criteria nearly excluded Secaucus because the grants were intended to add police to the force, not replace existing officers. In 1999, the officials managed to get a waiver from the federal government allowing the money to flow into town using the newer, smaller department as the town’s official number of police officers. The recent hiring of police officers as well as the purchase of new equipment are direct results of the federal grants.
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