Kokomo Police Department transfers funds to buy cars, establish crime data center

This article is brought to you by Solidarity Community Federal Credit Union. Big banks make you feel like a number. We don’t. At Solidarity Community FCU, every loan, every account, every conversation is personal. Because we live here, too. If you’ve been thinking about refinancing, consolidating debt, or just exploring better options, this is your sign.

Let’s talk about what’s possible.

The Kokomo Police Department needs some new wheels. And before long, they’ll be able to watch the city through hundreds of cameras. The department requested a transfer of funds from wages and benefits to motor vehicles and software to meet these two needs.

And the Kokomo Common Council readily obliged. Chief Doug Stout attended the council’s April 13 meeting to explain the need for the move, which was met with overwhelming approval.

“Why this has come up has a little bit to do with our Enterprise Leasing that we started in 2020,” said Stout. “We were under the understanding, and even Enterprise was under the understanding, that we could buy the vehicles out at the end of the lease period.

“Unfortunately, we were told a couple weeks ago that may not happen. So, losing the number of vehicles that we started leasing in 2020 would be a significant impact on the Patrol Division’s ability to safely patrol the city with less cars.”

Additionally, the police department has submitted 14 cars to the city’s auction. Stout explained that the cars were 2010 and 2011 model years and that parts had become scarce for keeping the vehicles on the road. He added that the department is still using a few unmarked vehicles from 2008.

“We are getting every mile we possibly can out of these vehicles,” said Stout. “But I guess, to put it as nicely as I can, this is why you have to consistently, every year, replace vehicles and plan for them. It wasn’t done for so long. I am six years into this department head position, and I’m still having to play catch up.”

Stout explained that the reason he chose wages and benefits as the place to find money for the vehicles is that the city simply can’t hire officers fast enough to replace ones who leave. The department is budgeted to have 92 officers, but today there are only 83.

“Since April of 2020, I’ve hired 68 officers,” said Stout. “But we have attrition. We had the new DROP program come in for officers who are at a minimum of 52 years old with a minimum of 20 years of experience of law enforcement. I’m still getting surprises from officers who fit that category, who have decided now is the time for them to just go ahead and retire.”

The department sends its officers to the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy for training, but there are limited slots available. As such, the Kokomo Police Department will only be able to hire and train six officers this year. At the same time, Stout said two or three officers will retire this year.

“So, the money is not going to be used,” said Stout. “This is why I am simply requesting the resolution to get into a situation that will benefit the community with even more updated vehicles. This will keep us on top of our technology that we’ve implemented and keep being able to put officers out on the street safely with the appropriate equipment.”

Currently, a police cruiser costs approximately $70,000, Stout said.

The request to move money into the software line-item is to support the police department’s efforts to establish a real-time crime data center. According to Stout, the city currently has more than 300 video cameras installed throughout the city, mainly around trails and parks. The crime data center will enable the police department to access them at will.

“Every single one of them we can access with a click of a button,” said Stout.

The crime data center will be paired with the department’s drone units so that video from those units also can be relayed to the center in real-time.

The council passed both transfers unanimously during its public meeting.