While the Knox City Police Department is still short one police cruiser, Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston said he’s still working on a possible grant to help cover the rest of the cost of a new squad car. Houston said that because of the per-capita income for the city, they may be eligible for a larger grant than what he had originally anticipated.
Houston said the council will eventually have to pledge some money out of EDIT funds for their share of the grant, and since they’re looking at around $36,000 for an equipped squad car, the council would likely be responsible for 25-35 percent of that cost. Fortunately, the city has received some money from the insurance company for the police cruiser that had been totaled when an officer struck a deer. That $6900 will go toward covering their share of the grant.
Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston said that if it comes down to it, the city should purchase another Dodge Charger for police use, since most of the department’s vehicles are Chargers and the equipment would be interchangeable in case of an accident.
While the police department is down one vehicle, Knox Mayor Rick Chambers said the detective could drive one of the two patrol cars available for use. However, if the detective is not on patrol but conducting an investigation, he may have to use the department’s spare Chevrolet Tahoe with well over 100,000 miles and a variety of mechanical issues.
