Carrollton puts police vehicle up for sale

By Editor | February 15, 2023 |

By Carmen Ensinger
Greene Prairie Press
The City of Carrollton discussed several law enforcement matters at their meeting last Thursday, with the first being the sale of a police vehicle.
The city bought two brand new 2022 Ford F150 police trucks last year, one in February and one in December, at a cost of $53,585 each from Morrow Brothers Ford in Greenfield. As a result, they are selling one of their older vehicles.
Two months ago, the city agreed to put its 2019 Ford Explorer police vehicle, equipment included, for a minimum bid of $15,000. This month, at the Feb. 9 city council meeting, they decided they would rather sell a different vehicle in the fleet.
“After further discussion with our Chief, it was decided the guys were more impressed with the Explorer than they were with the Durango,” Mayor Mike Snyder said.
Therefore, the council rescinded their motion to sell the 2019 Ford Explorer and made a new motion to sell the 2020 Dodge Durango with a $20,000 minimum on this vehicle since it is a year newer. It will also come with all equipment. It will be sold through Morrow Brothers Ford in Greenfield and also be listed on the ILEAS website.
With the retirement of former Police Chief Mike McCartney and the promotion of Sergeant Jimmy Buchanan to Police Chief, that left an opening for a full time officer. The council approved the advertisement for a sixth full time officer for the city.
“The finance committee met and the consensus was that we give the Chief the authorization to run an add to seek a candidate for the sixth full time position on our police force,” Alderman and Finance Committee Chairman Larry Gillingham said. “The terms will be outlined in the ad, which will also be on Facebook. The candidate will need to be qualified through the Police Academy.”
Some of the perks of the job will include a starting salary of $22 per hour, which will increase to $23 after a one-year probationary period. Health and dental insurance, IMRF and retirement, 14 paid vacation days a year and one week vacation after a year’s employment plus 32 personal and 12 hours of sick time per month and compensation sick time accumulation.
Applications may be picked up at the city hall Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. through March 1. Due consideration will be given to any part-time officers who want to move into a full-time position.
Gillingham said the committee thought about using part-time officers to fill the position, but in the end thought this was the best move.
“We felt this was the better move for the moral of our officers – to have someone they can depend on,” Gillingham said. “It was also better economically because you won’t have to pay overtime. We also felt this was a good move because we have two officers who are looking to retire in a few years so we are going to be looking to replace them as well.”
Police Chief Jimmy Buchanan requested the purchase of two new defibrillators for the police vehicles.
“We went out to assist on a medical call and when we pulled out, the AED in our vehicle was beeping because the battery was no good,” Buchanan said. “We didn’t have to use it, but if we had, it would have been really bad.”
Buchanan said he had been talking with Alderman Tim Reif about not only purchasing a new one for that squad but also updating the one in the other squad car as well since they were both purchased at the same time.
“The machines they are using now are 10 to 12 years old and outdated and the reason for wanting to purchase two of them is that we don’t want our guys to have two different machines to use,” Reif said. “So, we might as well replace both units as the other unit might go at any time. Like Jimmy said, when you need to use it isn’t the time to find out it doesn’t work.”
The council approved the purchase of two new AED units at a cost of $3,300.
Buchanan also requested a new camera for the vehicle he uses as the camera doesn’t work in his vehicle.
“It is a lot easier for court purposes to have a camera when you make a traffic stop,” Buchanan said. “If someone said this or that, we can go back and watch the video and prove or disprove what they said.”
The cost of a new camera, which would be the same as the new cameras in all of the other new vehicles purchased by the city, would be $2,200. Buchanan said this camera system has the capability of, when the squad pulls in close to the where the computer is located, it automatically links up to the computer and downloads the video so everything is already on the computer when the officer gets out of the squad. Also, when an officer turns on the lights to make a stop, the video goes back at least 30 seconds to get the violation on camera.
Buchanan had also requested the purchase of a new radar unit for his squad at a cost of $14,84.09. The council approved both purchases at a total cost of $3,689.99.
The council approved promoting Officer Mike Lovel to the position of Sergeant. With Buchanan being promoted to Chief, that left his former position of Sergeant open.
“He has been writing the most DUI’s in the department and I feel it was time he was promoted to Sergeant,” Buchanan said. “Also, with the promotion he will be put on day shift. He has been on night shift forever.”
The council approved the sale of the 2008 International truck used by the street department that was replaced a couple months ago.
“We got our new truck in and are using it,” Public Works Director Steve Rosentreter said. “This truck has been stripped out and is now ready to be sold.”
The 2008 International went down at the end of last year and needed, at minimum, the engine rebuilt at a cost of at least $30,000.
After the bed and all of the lights and other equipment were stripped off of the 2008 truck to be used on the 2017 truck that the city purchased at a cost of just under $80,000, Rosentreter said he thinks the truck should be worth between $5,000 to $7,500.
“Basically, it is just the cab and chassis now,” Rosentreter said. “I know we were offered $1,500 for it from one place, but its worth a lot more. I think we need to set some kind of minimum on it.”
No action was taken by the council and Rosentreter was authorized to check into the best places to list the truck for sale.
The council approved the purchase of having a booster pump rebuilt for the water department.
“Rick (Goans, water plant operator) got bids on what it would cost to rebuild it and to buy a new one,” Rosentreter said. “The cost to rebuild the old one was $8,919 and when we asked about a new one the bid was $14,500 plus there was a five to six week wait.”
Goans said the pumps were purchased in 1998 and both of them have been rebuilt at least once before. The council agreed to the rebuild since the city could not be without the extra pump for the five to six wait period.