Earle PD adds 3 to fleet

Earle PD adds 3 to fleet

Force buys trio of patrol cars from Arkansas Highway Police

news@theeveningtimes.com

Earle Police Department no longer has to worry about driving around in clunker cars.

The city recently purchased three used 2009 Crown Victoria police cars from the Highway Police and already have put them in service.

“They are glad to have them,” said City Clerk Cynthia Conner.

The city council last month authorized Captain Fitzgerald Couch to go ahead and buy the cars.

The vehicles all had less than 113,000 miles on them, came fully equipped, and had been well maintained.

The vehicles were being offered at a special rate to municipalities for $3,600 apiece.

Earle had three police cars but each one was in a state of disrepair.

The department had been relying heavily on a 2007 Crown Victoria but that vehicle recently had to go in for a tune-up and a brake job.

“The brakes were rubbing,” Nemi Matthews told the city council. “You could hear it two miles away coming down the street. So we shut it down and had them done.”

A second vehicle, a black Impala, is also not in good condition.

“That car is the oldest one in the fleet,” Matthews said. “It is run the most — a couple of shifts a night.”

The city’s 2014 Dodge Charger is also waiting to be repaired. The vehicle blew an engine rod because it was low on oil. The city later replaced the motor with one that was incompatible and is still getting prices to have it repaired.

Matthews said if they put in a new motor it will also have to have a computer which matches.

“When you swap the motor you have to have a compatible computer,” Matthews said. “The computer and the motor have to stay together or it won’t run that motor. The computer in that car would not read the motor.”

Matthews told the council that he would get a price on a motor.

“I’ll be glad to call around,” Matthews said.

Councilman Donnie Cheers concurred.

“I talked to a couple of dealers,” Cheers said. “If you have the wrong computer,

it’s never going to act

right.”

Conner said one of the new cars is in the shop now being striped. The third one also needs to be striped but is still being used.

By Mark Randall