Granville Police Drive 9,000 Miles Per Month Getting 10 MPG

The Granville Police Department owns five cars that in total are driven nearly 9,000 miles each month. The cars average only 10.25 miles per gallon. Assuming $4.00 per gallon of gasoline, the police department is spending over $40,000 per year on fuel.

Chief James Mason says the bad fuel mileage is just the nature of these cars. They are Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptors with large, 250HP V8 engines. The cars also have a heavy duty transmission, heavy duty brakes, and a roll bar. In addition, the cars have an upgraded electrical system to deal with all the lights, computer equipment and radio equipment required in modern police work.

The "Crown Vic" Interceptors have body-on-frame construction that is rugged, and enables inexpensive repairs after minor accidents without the need to straighten the chassis, making it preferable to unibody vehicles. This is an important benefit for a car frequently used by police forces for so called "PIT" maneuvers (ramming a car to spin it out) during high-speed chases.

The first real specialized police car, the "Police Package" became available from Ford in 1950. Chevrolet made its first Police Package in 1955, Dodge in 1956, and Plymouth in 1957. Before then police departments had to use regular cars and add many extra features.

Chief Mason says they need these special cars because they never know when they must chase after someone or get to the scene of a problem quickly. He feels that using smaller cars, as more and more police departments throughout the country are doing, would make it difficult for an officer to respond quickly to help another officer.

The Chief admitted that Granville police seldom enter into high-speed chases since their rules of operation were changed. Nationwide, high-speed police chases have resulted in more than 350 deaths annually in recent years.

Granville buys its Ford Interceptors through a state purchasing program. According to the Chief, a new car is usually purchased each year, but, in some years, two cars may be bought. Age and miles are the determinants for when to replace a car.

Mason said they are considering purchasing a small SUV with a hybrid engine for use by the Sergeant on duty. This vehicle would operate at a much higher fuel mileage than a Crown Victoria. Also, with its four-wheel drive it could go off road when required. Currently, the police must borrow a four-wheel drive vehicle from the fire department whenever one is needed.

Granville police drive nearly 9,000 miles every month consuming almost 900 gallons of gasoline. At $4.00 per gallon, the Village is spending close to $3,500 dollars each month for gasoline. Oil, tires, brakes and service add to the cost of operating these big cars.

As can be seen in the table below, Granville police spend approximately 965 hours per month on patrol. That represents about 70% of monthly person-hours with the remainder spent on complaint activities (15%) and administrative duties (15%).

Of the patrol time, only about 4% is foot patrol, an average of 38 hours a month - a little over an hour each day.

If the Granville Police are going to effectively combat the rising gasoline prices, they will have to take a variety of measures, including:

Driving fewer miles.

Increasing the percentage of foot patrols

Purchasing smaller, fuel efficient cars

Using bicycles more often

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See Granville Police Reports containing the data used in this story:

07/12/2008: Granville Police Report for June 2008

05/19/2008: Granville Police Report for April 2008

04/17/2008: Granville Police Report for March 2008

03/18/2008: Granville Police Report for February 2008

02/04/2008: Granville Police Report for December 2007