FORKS — Three new police cars will be added to the Forks fleet by the end of the month.
The three Crown Victorias were purchased using money from the sale of a Chevy Tahoe sport utility vehicle purchased several years ago.
“People in town just did not like the Tahoes,” said Mayor Bryon Monohon.
“They were not marked, and people didn’t know if they were police cars or not.
“There was a sense of entrapment.”
‘Sense of entrapment’
Monohon said one of the Police Department’s Tahoes was sold to the Quileute tribe.
That provided the money for purchasing three decommissioned State Patrol cars.
“These look like police cars, so I think people will be pleased,” Monohon said.
Forks Police Chief Doug Price, who took office early this year, said two of his six officers had been without vehicles until the new cars were purchased.
The Tahoes were purchased in 2008 before Price or Monohon took their current offices.
“I was on [the City Council] at the time, and that was the direction that the department and administration wanted to go at that time — that was the direction that they were wanting to go,” Monohon said.
“At that time, most purchases like this were dealt with more on the mayor and department levels.
“Now, we tend to run things more closely by council.”
Purchase price
The Tahoe was sold for $26,000, and the three Crown Victorias, which are early 2000 models, were purchased for a total of $11,400 fully equipped, Price said.
“It was a really wonderful deal that I got from the State Patrol,” he said.
“Some of the leftover money will go to put the markings on the cars, and the rest of it will go into a fund for when I need to do vehicle maintenance.”
The Forks Police Department also will install radios in the new cars, Price said.
The total cost for that hasn’t been calculated, but Price said it will be nominal.
Better gas mileage
An added bonus, Price said, will be better gas mileage from the cars than the Tahoe.
The City Council approved the purchase at its April 25 meeting, Monohon said.
The Police Department still has one unmarked Tahoe and three marked Tahoes that officers use.
Price said he still hasn’t decided what to do with the unmarked Tahoe but that he is considering asking the City Council for permission to sell it.
“We needed more vehicles because we had more officers than cars,” Monohon said.
“This will give us some added flexibility.”
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
