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Police Worry About Curb on Take-Home Vehicles Lawrence - June 27, 2008 - Gas prices have gotten so high that across Massachusetts, cities and towns are asking employees not to take official vehicles home. In some cases, the employees are pushing back. WBUR?s Fred Thys reports. TEXT OF STORY: THYS: Rescue divers say there is a golden hour within which, in cold water, drowning victims can sometimes be resuscitated without brain damage. One Saturday a few years ago, Lieutenant James X. Fitzpatrick was called to the icy banks of the Merrimac River on a call that four boys had fallen through the ice. JAMES X. FITZPATRICK: I was on the dive team, and I had a take-home vehicle. I jumped in my car. THYS: And Fitzpatrick got there in fifteen minutes. In the end, the boys could not be saved. But he still thinks the story illustrates the importance of being able to rush to the scene of an emergency. He grew up in Lawrence. His father was a police officer. He has seen the city go through many changes. He says since he?s been on the police force, Lawrence has changed for the better. He says that?s thanks in part to aggressive policing on the part of Chief John Romero, who insists that his officers be on call 24/7. Fitzpatrick is the head of the narcotics division now. He takes home the unmarked car he works in, and he wants his officers to be able to take theirs home, too. FITZPATRICK: The ability to have that tool makes my job so much easier, and makes us more effective. To be able to call? be able to pick up my phone and know that I can get a guy in there in a matter of fifteen minutes is really something that we couldn?t do without. THYS: Fitzpatrick opposes a proposal that would curtail the ability of police officers and other public employees in Lawrence to take their city vehicles home. Methuen and Boston have adopted similar policies. The idea is to save the city money on gas, but Lawrence Police Chief John Romero thinks it?s a bad idea. Lawrence is a relatively small department, 155 police officers, which means that at any given time, the exact expert that Romero needs on a particular call might not be on duty. JOHN ROMERO: For instance, homicide investigators, or arson investigators, or gang investigators, and I expect people to be, at whatever time they?re called, to come directly and respond to the incident. That being the case, I give them the tools to do it. THYS: That includes the car. ROMERO: It?s wrong to perceive it as a benefit to the officer; it?s a benefit to the city as well. THYS: Romero says it?s not as if his officers take police vehicles on long commutes. On average, the officers live 5 ? miles from the police station. Haverhill?s mayor, James Fiorentini, says his reason for asking police officers, firefighters, and public works employees to leave their city vehicles at work is pretty simple. JAMES FIORENTINI: Oh. Save money. When gas hit four bucks a gallon, and our total vehicle usage cost for gasoline and fuel hit $667 000 last year, I knew we had to do something. THYS: Fiorentini sent out a directive asking all departments to cut back on fuel costs by at least 10 per cent. The mayor is also telling employees that they can?t have any passengers who don?t work for the city. FIORENTINI: We want to eliminate people taking their children to school or going to shop with the cars. THYS: Haverhill has 28 police officers who take their vehicles home. Fiorentini says some of those vehicles will be eliminated. FIORENTINI: I thought I?d be picketed, get a lot of protests. THYS: Instead, Fiorentini says, everyone is cooperating. FIORENTINI: I think that everybody understands that in a tight budget environment, we just have to do something. THYS: No one takes the squad cars home, except for the K-9 officers, so Fiorentini is really only talking about unmarked cars, and he says he?ll make exceptions for officers and other city employees who are called to emergencies. He says it?s only in part about saving money. The rest, he says, is about showing the public that he?s watching every nickel of taxpayer dollars.
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