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Home My WebLink AboutIR 8122 ,o INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. si 22 To the Mayor and Members of the City Council April 28, 1998 Subject: POLICE VEHICLE FLEET Von This report responds to questions raised by Councilmembers during the April 7, 1998 Council worksession. It compares several key indicators of Police Department fleet operations and vehicle replacement in FY 1994-1995, the year prior to the establishment of the Crime Control and Prevention District, and FY 1996-97, the most recently completed fiscal year after the establishment of the CCPD. Overall, the condition of the Police Department's fleet has improved in terms of average odometer mileage and age since the inception of the CCPD. Fleet availability has not significantly improved since the CCPD took effect. Replacement of vehicles is proceeding at a level that will improve fleet reliability in emergency response functions. Police Fleet Profile The following tables relate key indicators for fleet operations. Number of Vehicles 1995 1997 rof All units 651 793 Marked units 264 365 Motorcycles 22 25 The net increase of fleet vehicles is primarily due to new program vehicles acquired for the CCPD and a small increase in motorcycles for use as relief units. From 1995 to 1997, the fleet increased by 142 vehicles, or 21 percent. Average Age 1995 1997 All units 6 years 5 years Marked units 4 years 3 years The average age has dropped as a result of adding the additional CCPD program vehicles and the increased pace of replacements since CCPD implementation. Average Odometer Mileage 1995 19, 7 All units 70,000 58,000 Marked units 75,000 55,000 Beat patrol units 66,000 65,000 ° -CORD III T om w uwmn SECRETARY L W-- wRTH, .. TEX ..[ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER GnQT wnQTU TCVAC ~ INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No.- To the Mayor and Members of the City Council April 28, 1998 Page 2 of 4 POLICE VEHICLE FLEET The reduction in average odometer mileage is due to the addition of new CCPD program vehicles and the replacement of high mileage vehicles with CCPD funding. Beat patrol units, which are a subset of marked units, are virtually unchanged in average odometer mileage over the two year period. The primary reason for this is that only 30 marked units of all types were replaced in 1996-97. As of the date of this report, 21 of the 75 beat patrol cars (28 percent) have odometer readings in excess of 100,00,0 miles, When the current year replacements are put into service in mid-July, all of these units will be traded in for new vehicles. Total Annual Miles Driven by Department 1995 1997 10,628,000 1 3,072,000 From 1995 to 1997, total annual miles driven by the Police Department increased by slightly more than 2.4 million miles. This is mainly due to the increase in fleet size, but also contributing is the development of far north Fort Worth, including the Alliance Corridor and the Texas Motor Speedway. Average Daily Fleet Availability 1995 11997 184% 187% Another way to express this is that in 1995, 16 percent of the fleet on average was inoperable due to mechanical problems,preventive maintenance requirements or collision damage on any given day. In 1997, this improved to 13 percent of the total fleet. For beat patrol units only, the number of vehicles down on any given day for the past 10 months ranges between 15 percent and 22 percent, the higher number of down vehicles tending to occur during the hottest days of the year. No data are available to compare beat patrol units only between 1995 and 1997. While the number of vehicles in the Police fleet grew by 21 percent between 1995 and 1997, and the average age of the entire fleet improved by 17 percent in the same period, there was only a 3.5 percent improvernent in fleet availability. The number of accidents was virtually unchanged from 1995 (209) to 1997 (217), with the accident rate per 100,000 miles actually reducing from 1.97 in 1995 to 1.66 in 1997. The lack of improvement in vehicle availability is currently being studied by the Police Department and Equipment Services Division to determine the best approach to increasing vehicle availability as the summer ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH,TEXAS INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 8122 I I�D To the Mayor and Members of the City Council April 28, 1998 Page 3 of 4 Subject: POLICE VEHICLE FLEET months approach. One change in Police Department procedures that was made in February 1998 is that all beat patrol vehicles receive an inspection by the driver prior to the beginning of a shift. This inspection follows a specific checklist that includes critical items, such as oil level and tire condition. Also, deployment of new vehicles will be concentrated in emergency response functions so the most reliable vehicles will be where they are needed most. Take-home Marked Units 1 Assignment Number K-9 6 DARE 13 School Security I (sergeant) Traffic Investigation Unit I (duty car) Zero Tolerance 48 Neighborhood Patrol Officers (includes community relations 96 officers and NPO sergeants) Total The total of 165 marked units that have take-home authorization amounts to 45 percent of all Police marked units. Take-home authorization is given to those officers who do not work a regular schedule and/or are required to respond to after-hours emergency calls. Replacement Process Prior to the establishment of the Crime Control and Prevention District, the Police Department had a poor record of vehicle replacement. This was one result of the City's fiscal difficulties during the early 1990s. The history of vehicle replacements in the 1990s is as follows. Fiscal Year Total, Vehicles Replaced 1990-91 32 1991-92 19 1992-93 53 1993-94 77 1994-95 64 1995-96 166 1996-97 81 r0l' 1997-98 131 ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 8122 ot To the Mayor and Members of the City Council April 28, 1998 Page 4 of 4 Subject: POLICE VEHICLE FLEET Fiscal Year 1995-96 was the implementation of the Crime Control and Prevention District. In the five years prior to CCPD implementation, only 245 vehicles were replaced. In the three years since CCPD inception, 378 vehicles have been replaced. Average Odometer Miles at Replacement 1995 1997 Cars 107,000 104,000 Motorcycles 42,000 51,000 The criteria for replacing specific vehicles are a combination of age, mileage, cost of operation, and an assessment of individual vehicles' reliability. The increase in replacement mileage for motorcycles was the effect of replacing only 11 motorcycles between 1990-91 and 1994-95, and the numbers of motorcycles replaced since the CCPD began have only begun to have an impact in the current fiscal year, where average miles at replacement is about the same as in 1996-97. It is as important to deploy new vehicles effectively as it is to have a robust vehicle replacement program. Deploying new marked units to the beat patrols, for example, places the most reliable vehicles in the emergency response function. With a higher proportion of replacement vehicles being marked units in the current fiscal year and in future years, it will be possible to replace all 75 beat patrol vehicles every year. After one year in a beat patrol role, these vehicles will be rotated back to functions with less severe operating conditions, resulting in an estimated four to five year life cycle for marked units in Field Operations Bureau instead of the two to three years that have been experienced in the recent past. Ford delayed its production of Crown Victorias by about two months to retool its assembly lines for a body style change, according to the vendor, Village Ford. Consequently, the City will not start taking delivery of its Crown Victorias until mid- May, with complete delivery of the cars occurring by early June. In-processing of these vehicles, which involves adding prisoner cages, light bars, decals and radio equipment by the City will proceed as quickly as possible. All new patrol units will be in service by mid-July. The unmarked mid-size cars are arriving now and are being, put into service, with full delivery of the units expected in the next two weeks. Fu�or information will be provided upon request. Terre City Manager ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH,TEXAS