FORD
Ford promotional images for the Interceptor SUV that the NHPD wants to purchase and the electric Mach-E Mustang that the NYPD bought. (AI-generated lightning not included.)
Should a once-in-a-lifetime flood of federal money be used to fund more gas-powered public safety vehicles, while the city contends with a looming climate crisis and one of the highest asthma rates in the country?
Alders raised those questions — even as they moved ahead the Elicker Administration’s proposal to use $4.5 million in federal pandemic-relief aid in part to buy new non-electric police SUVs and fire trucks.
Acting Controller and city Budge Director Michael Gormany appeared before the Board of Alders Finance Committee at City Hall on Nov. 29 alongside police and fire department leadership to make that pitch.
Specifically, the Elicker Administration officials have submitted a request to the alders to use federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to purchase eight police SUVs for $400,000 as well as two fire engines and one fire truck for $3.7 million.
As part of this same tranche of ARPA spending, the city has also proposed using $400,000 to repair as many of the approximately 100 broken fire hydrants across New Haven as it can.
The committee alders favorably recommended the $4.5 million ARPA spending plan, which now heads to the full Board of Alders for further debate and a final vote.
City Fire Chief John Alston explained to the committee alders that there’s a national backlog on fire equipment due to pandemic-related supply chain issues, and that it would be “not only prudent, but practical” and “necessary” for New Haven to purchase new vehicles as soon as possible. The Fire Department is requesting $850,000 for each of two fire engines as well as $2 million for a fire truck with an aerial ladder.
The department still needs to determine the precise costs of hydrant repairs, Alston said, before committing to a specific number of hydrants it plans to fix. The variable factor is the extent of the damage, which could range from a $2,500 replacement to a $7,000 fix for cases of deeper damage, the latter of which would require assistance from the Regional Water Authority.
Meanwhile, according to Police Chief Karl Jacobson, the city currently has about 112 police vehicles, 50 of which are used every day for patrol. “We find that number to be low,” said Jacobson.
The additional eight vehicles that Jacobson hopes to purchase will all be SUVs, either the Dodge Durango Pursuit or the Ford Interceptor. When pressed by Board of Alders Majority Leader Richard Furlow on why the department is investing in larger vehicles, Jacobson responded that Ford has already discontinued its police sedan offerings, and Dodge is no longer accepting orders for non-SUV police cars. The vehicles will be primarily used for patrolling, Jacobson said, while two will be dedicated to the Bureau of Identification’s crime scene unit and one may be used by a district manager.
East Rock Alder Anna Festa asked whether the SUVs would be used to phase out police transport vans. The police department’s use of those vans came under scrutiny this summer, when arrestee Randy Cox was permanently paralyzed following a handcuffed, seatbelt-less ride in one of the city’s prisoner transport vans.
Jacobson responded that the department has reduced its usage of transport vans since that incident, but that he doesn’t anticipate eliminating vans altogether. Police currently only use vans — which now have seatbelts — to drive incarcerated people to court, he said. “Sometimes there are 12 people going to court,” which without a van, would require 12 separate vehicles, he said.
Alders: American Rescue Plan For... Gas Guzzlers?
Michael Gormany, Karl Jacobson, and John Alston make their pitch.
The city has so far allocated $96.3 million in ARPA funding for a wide range of projects, including jump-starting new community centers, creating a new Department of Community Resilience, installing 500 security cameras across the city, as well as a range of housing, climate, vo-tech, and economic development initiatives. That leaves $19.5 million in ARPA dollars that the city must obligate before 2025.
Why use some of that remaining pandemic aid for public safety vehicle and fire hydrant upgrades?
The city would typically use bonds to fund that type of expense, Gormany told the committee alders. He said using this federal grant money instead would incur “a savings for future years.” Allocating ARPA funds in this way “allows us to look at other initiatives … next budget cycle,” Gormany added. He said the city is planning to submit another proposal for allocating pandemic relief funding toward upgrading other city vehicles, like those used by the public works department.
Westville Alder and Finance Committee Chair Adam Marchand questioned this approach.
He mentioned that the city is already contending with the effects of climate change and high asthma rates associated with car pollution from the highways that run through New Haven. “So there’s this federal money that’s this wonderful thing,” Marchand said. “One of our priorities is environmental justice. … Why not use some of this money” to buy electric public safety cars?
Alston said he worries about the risks of carrying massive amounts of water, as fire trucks do, in an electric vehicle. He said he has been exploring the possibility of electrifying the cars reserved for fire marshals, but has concerns about the logistics of having employees charge their cars in city lots and training mechanics to work with those cars.
Earlier in November, Alston presented to a separate alder committee about the risks of electric car battery explosions, which occur less frequently than gas car explosions but cause fires that are much harder to put out.
Jacobson argued that the use of electric or hybrid police cars is “fairly new”: “I don’t think we should be the test place,” he said. “There’s not a lot of places doing it yet.”
The department couldn’t simply adapt a regular hybrid or electric car for police use, Jacobson later elaborated; it would need to use a car specifically designed for police use, since the state has particular standards for the durability and technology required in police vehicles. “If you made a regular Honda a police car, it probably wouldn’t last a year,” Jacobson said.
Laura Glesby Photo
Alder Adam Marchand, left, to public safety and budget leaders: Why not go electric?
Prospect Hill/Newhallville Alder Steve Winter reported from a quick Google search on his phone that New York City recently purchased 184 electric vehicles — Ford Mustang Mach-Es — for police use. Other Connecticut towns including Westport have piloted electric vehicles as well.
The rising cost of gas, he later added, is another reason to push for electrification.
“There are logistical challenges,” Winter conceded, “but the learning curve will be steeper later. I think it would be wise to jump-start some of this.”
Marchand asked about the possibility of a hybrid car: “It seems to me, gosh, why don’t we have at least one of these cars on our wish list” be even partly electric?
Jacobson expressed reservation about using battery-powered police cars that run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. “We have the laptops, devices, radios, police lights,” he said, saying he wouldn’t want to risk draining cops’ ability to use those electric tools in case a car battery runs out.
“We will do more research,” Jacobson said.
When it came time for deliberations, Alder Furlow spoke in favor of advancing the proposal without a provision for electric vehicles.
“Westport does not have the same policing as New Haven. Neither does New York,” Furlow argued.
Marchand suggested that the committee vote to recommend the proposal to their colleagues on the full Board of Alders, while continuing conversations with public safety leadership before the full board votes on the issue at its second December meeting. Specifically, he said he wants to discuss the possibility of making the police car planned for use by a district manager electric.
The alders agreed on this way forward and unanimously voted in favor of the spending plan.
Click on the video below to watch a recent interview with Alder Steve Winter on WNHH’s “Dateline New Haven” in which he further discusses the issue of electric police vehicles, beginning at the 22-minute mark.
In addition to the Mustangs, Chevrolet offers a police version of its electric Bolt sedans. https://www.motor1.com/features/420301/american-police-cars-trucks-suvs/
While New Haven has policing situations that do not occur in Westport, I doubt this is true for New York City. Yes, parts of East and West Rock parks are fairly rugged, but the same is true for Inwood Park.