OFF THE WIRE
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_16401100?nclick_check=1 San Jose audit raps cop-car commuting By John Woolfolk
jwoolfolk@mercurynews.com
Cash-strapped San Jose could save more than $600,000 a year by curtailing the number of police and fire officials who routinely commute to work with their city vehicles from as far away as Modesto, Monterey and Walnut Creek, according to a new audit.
The city audit said 90 police vehicles, including sedans, motorcycles and SUVs, should not be taken home. Those vehicles are mostly driven by officers who work in traffic enforcement or with police dogs, but they also are used by deputy chiefs.
Three other vehicles driven by deputy fire chiefs and a press information officer also should be left at the city lot, the audit said. And restrictions may be in order for an additional 38 police cars.
"Many employees who had take-home vehicles logged more miles commuting than on official city use," City Auditor Sharon Erickson said. She recommended the city tighten its take-home vehicle policy to restrict the practice to employees frequently called upon to respond to emergencies in the field.
City Manager Debra Figone and General Services Director Peter Jensen said in a written response that they generally agree with the audit's findings and have been working to limit personal use of city cars. But they said the recommendations need further study.
"Focusing solely on cost savings may compromise the city's ability to deliver public safety services at times of greatest need," the response said. Figone and Jensen said that in an emergency, staffers could respond more quickly by driving straight to the scene from home in a public vehicle instead of driving first to a city motor pool.
The audit comes as San Jose officials are looking to trim costs everywhere as they confront a 10th straight operating deficit. Next year's shortfall is projected to be at least $41 million.
At the city's public safety and finance committee meeting Thursday, Councilman Pete Constant, a former policeman, agreed that many police cars are needlessly driven to and from work. He was frustrated with the lack of progress on a problem noted in audits during the past two decades. Take-home use of police cars and motorcycles has risen from 54 in 1992 to 144 today.
"We audited it, pointed out the problem, and the problem grew," Constant said. "That's completely unacceptable."
Commuting in city cars costs San Jose nearly $1.1 million a year -- $900,000 in the police department -- in fuel, maintenance and accelerated replacement costs, the audit said, though not all of that vehicle use is unjustified. There's also an increased accident liability for the city.
The audit said eliminating take-home use of the 93 vehicles identified would save $630,000 a year, which Constant noted would be enough to hire five more police officers.
"It's an extra perk and benefit to a handful of people in the police department at the expense of everyone else," he said.
Police argued to the auditors that allowing traffic officers to commute on their motorcycles provides a visible presence that deters scofflaws on the road and also enables them to potentially weave around road obstructions in responding to a disaster. Police also said canine officers shouldn't have to accommodate dogs in their own cars.
The audit, however, said the officials commuting in those cars are called back to work on emergencies only a half-dozen to a dozen times a year -- not nearly enough to justify the commute costs. Constant agreed, noting that motorcycle officers weren't called in from home during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and that canine officers didn't take their patrol cars home when he was on the force.
"In the old days," Constant said, "cops used their own cars."
