Police struggle with fuel costs

The high price of gasoline is putting pressure on the budgets of West Plains police departments, where spending is up nearly everywhere, including Eastern Washington University, where police spend much of their time on foot or bicycle patrol during the summer and the department is considering buying a hybrid vehicle.

Cheney police by June 30 had spent 57.7 percent of their $19,300 fuel budget, a figure police Cmdr. Rick Campbell found surprising.

“We expected it to be much higher,” Campbell said.

He said the department usually has one officer in a patrol car on city streets at all times. Although there are three bicycles for police, they are used mainly for special events, Campbell said.

In addition, the department had spent 69.8 percent of its overtime budget as of June 30.

Campbell said the department has been delaying making any major purchases and might have to make an end-of-the-year budget adjustment to offset the cost of gasoline.

“We’re just kind of crossing our fingers,” he said.

In Medical Lake, the city has been short a chief and one officer for some time, so fewer officers than last year have been using patrol cars.

City Finance Director Pam McBroom said the department had spent half of its $16,000 fuel budget by the end of June, and that the department is conserving gas by making fewer trips to Spokane.

Airway Heights police spent 59 percent of their $24,000 fuel budget by the end of June, according to Sgt. Greg Rogan.

He said Airway Heights buys its fuel in bulk, so while people in town are spending more than $4 a gallon, the city is spending $3.67, since it bought the fuel earlier.

“It’s one of those items that continually goes up,” Rogan said.

At EWU, police generally spend about 75 percent of their shifts on bicycles during the summer, when there are fewer students on campus, according to Chief Tim Walters. He said one of his officers recently racked up 30 miles on his mountain bike in one day.

Walters added that since EWU’s police jurisdiction encompasses only 300 acres, it is easier for EWU officers to patrol on foot and bike. During the winter months, however, the bikes aren’t practical.

Deputy Chief Gary Gasseling said the department is making a strong effort to spend less on gasoline this year after the department came in 40 percent over budget for fuel during 2007. He hopes to reduce what they spend by 20 to 25 percent.

Gasseling said his department’s budget for fuel is $10,000 a year and lately they have been averaging about $1,400 a month. That number was much lower during July when the fuel bill was in the neighborhood of $1,000.

Another option the department is looking into is hybrid vehicles. Patrol cars need to be replaced every 100,000 miles or so, and since EWU police don’t do many high-speed pursuits, high-performance vehicles aren’t a necessity.

“If we have the budget to purchase a new vehicle, we’ll look at a hybrid,” Gasseling said, adding that other communities have purchased hybrid vehicles for their police departments.