OFF THE WIRE
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With gas prices hovering over $3.50 per gallon and bankrupt California cities making headlines, seeing an unoccupied police car left idling on the side of the street for minutes or hours can seem like a senseless waste of taxpayer money.
North County police and sheriff’s deputies said they understood concerns about waste, but leaving vehicles idling was often necessary. Idling engines power mission-critical equipment including computers, emergency lights, and air conditioning to keep electronics and dogs from overheating. And it ensures that the vehicle is ready if the officer is called to an emergency.
“If the technology was there to support the equipment in the vehicle without the car running, then we would turn it off,” said Capt. Mike Barnett of the Sheriff’s Vista Station. “The important thing is that the car is ready and available when we need it, and if leaving the engine on is the only way to do that, then that’s what we’ll do.”
Officials say they occasionally get calls from people questioning the practice, particularly when gas prices surge.
According to the California Energy Commission, Consumer Energy Center, website, an idling car burns in two minutes enough fuel to move the vehicle one mile.
A 2009 study by the Ottawa Police Service in Ottawa, Canada, found the average idling time for a police car was 6.7 hours per 10-hour patrol shift.
To idle or not to idle
Sheriff’s deputies and police in Oceanside, Escondido and Carlsbad said they knew of no written policy that specifies when an officer or deputy should leave a vehicle running or turn it off. They said the matter is left largely to officers’ discretion.
“There’s no rule that says, 'You must leave your car on, but it’s a practice that has been handed down over the years because it works,'” said Lt. Chris Wynn of the Escondido Police Department.
Officers and deputies typically turn off their cars while they’re working at stations, or when they know how long they’ll be dedicated to a particular task, authorities said.
When authorities don’t know how long they’ll be away from their vehicles, the benefits of leaving engines running often outweigh the costs, authorities said. A running vehicle is immediately functional, and a delayed response to emergency calls could cost lives.
For example, officers can leave for emergency calls immediately, without the risk that their vehicles won’t start, Wynn said. Leaving the vehicles running also means computers and other systems won’t drain the cars' batteries, or have to be shut down and restarted with the engine ---- a process that costs time.
“Think about booting your computer up every time you got into the car,” Wynn said.
Oceanside police officers often left cars running in the past because computers had problems re-starting, said Lt. Leonard Mata. However, the department has since fixed the problem in most ---- but not all ---- vehicles.
“At this point, generally they (officers) are not going to leave their cars running unless there is a specific problem with a specific car,” Mata said.
Taxpayer concern
Authorities say it's no surprise that residents sometimes call to complain after seeing unoccupied patrol vehicles idling for long periods of time.
“When gas prices go way up, that’s when we get phone calls,” Wynn said. “A lot of people will call in the summer and accuse us of wanting to leave the AC (air conditioning) running.”
It’s true: Officers and deputies do want to leave the air conditioning running ---- but not just for their own comfort, authorities said. Heat can damage expensive electronics, and hurt or kill police dogs.
K-9 vehicles are almost always left running if the dog is inside, authorities said.
Keeping dogs cool is so important that local agencies’ K-9 vehicles have gadgets called “Chilly Dogs” inside them to warn handlers if the vehicle gets too warm, authorities said.
“If for any reason the car shuts down or malfunctions, the windows come down, lights and sirens activate, and the handler has a key fob on his duty belt that will automatically beep at him and let him know to check the car immediately,” said Sgt. Ron McCracken of the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.
Technology to the rescue
While the reasons to leave patrol vehicles running may be sound, new technology could reduce the cost of ---- and even the need for ---- allowing engines to idle.
As Ford ended production of the Crown Victoria with the 2012 model, local agencies began shopping for a new sedan to replace their fleets’ worn-out cruisers. Among the front-runners for replacement models is the Ford Police Interceptor sedan, which needs about 35 percent less fuel than the “Crown Vic” to idle for the same amount of time, according to Ford’s website.
The Carlsbad Police Department recently purchased seven Chevrolet Caprice PPV sedans, which have an auxiliary battery to power their electronics, according to Chevrolet’s promotion materials. The vehicle’s other battery starts the engine.
Anti-idling technology is also available, at a cost of about $2,000 for some systems, according to news reports and law enforcement agencies. The systems, some of which work like the Caprice's auxiliary battery, can reduce fuel consumption by more than 10 percent.
Call staff writer Morgan Cook at 760-739-6675.