Police to use SUVs despite report

Dan Kulin

Friday, July 25, 2003 | 11:21 a.m.

The Henderson Police Department is continuing to fill its patrol fleet with Chevy Tahoes despite a May 2001 city Finance Department report that said the sport utility vehicles should not be used for patrol because most are not designed for high-speed chases.

Most city elected officials said Thursday that they were not concerned with the apparent conflict because they trust the police to know what equipment they need to fight crime and protect residents. They also said that the department does not engage in many high-speed chases because of its restrictive policy on such pursuits.

"Irrespective of what the Finance Department says, if the police department says this is what is needed ... that is who ought to be advising us," Mayor Jim Gibson said.

Police have said the Tahoes are in many ways better than the Ford Crown Victorias that had dominated the patrol fleet because the SUVs have more room for equipment and are more comfortable than the cars.

Department spokesman Shane Lewis also said that while there have been accidents involving the SUVs, none of them were because of design features of the SUVs, which have a higher center of gravity and are more prone to rolling over than cars. No officers were seriously injured in the accidents, he said.

The department has bought 105 Tahoes since 1999, including 37 purchased since the report was issued. Only the first 29 Tahoes, purchased in 1999, are pursuit-certified, Lewis said. Kevin Hill, city general services manager, said the older vehicles are pursuit-certified because they are lower to the ground and have a wider wheel base than the newer models.

The police department's patrol division is made up of 31 Crown Victorias, a sedan, and 78 Tahoes including 19 purchased earlier this year. A few of the 19 bought recently are still being outfitted with equipment such as light bars and sirens, and will be on the road within the next four weeks, Lewis said.

No other police department in the Las Vegas Valley depends so heavily on SUVs for patrol vehicles, relegating most of the SUVs those departments have to special uses, with canine officers, for example.

The Henderson Finance Department report, which was done at the request of the City Council, also stated that the three reasons city police said they preferred the SUVs to the Crown Victorias -- additional space for equipment, ergonomics and resale value -- were either not substantiated or, in the case of the storage space issue, could be addressed in ways other than switching vehicles. The report recommended the department have officers store their personal work equipment in a storage facility instead of in the vehicles in order to free up more room in the trunks.

But the report concluded that the "primary reason the Chevrolet Tahoe should not continue to be the patrol vehicle for the city is due to safety reasons."

The National Law Enforcement Corrections Technology Center said the Tahoe is not designed for high-speed pursuits, according to the report.

"A serious disability claim made by an officer through an injury may easily be substantiated and show that the city was negligent in allowing the officers to use the Tahoe as a patrol vehicle," the report said.

Two years later, a 2003 report from the Michigan State Police, which released its report in conjunction with the center, still listed the Tahoe as one of the vehicles "not suitable for high speed, pursuit or emergency driving according to the manufacturers."

Lewis said any comments about the report and the reasons for the department's use of SUVs would have to come from Police Chief Mike Mayberry. However, Lewis said Mayberry was out of town at a conference and could not be reached for comment.

City Manager Phil Speight said he didn't recall the report, but he said that in general he depends upon his department heads to decide what equipment is best for them.

Speight and the mayor also noted that Henderson police are reluctant to engage in high-speed pursuits, because of a police policy that discourages chases.

Lewis said that department policy states police should only engage in high-speed pursuits if the suspected criminal on the road poses a greater danger than a chase. Also, officers are not to chase if they have information such as a license plate number that will lead them to the suspected criminal later, he said.

Gibson said that if the issue was one of cost, where the Tahoes cost two or three times as much to have than the sedans, there would need to be further discussion of whether the more expensive vehicles are worth the higher price.

But the Finance Department report said each Tahoe cost the city only $485 more than a sedan.

The financial comparison took into account gas use, based on 14-miles-per-gallon for the Tahoe compared with 15-miles-per-gallon for the Crown Victorias, original cost, which at the time was $25,671 for a Tahoe and $24,950 for the car, and resale, which was estimated at $4,610 for a Tahoe and $3,785 for a Crown Victoria. However, because the city hasn't auctioned off any Tahoes yet, the report said no one could say for sure how much the SUVs would bring in.

The current prices for the vehicles are $25,808 for a Tahoe and $23,213 for a Crown Victoria, Lewis said.

City Councilman Steven Kirk said his primary concern when the police started buying the Tahoes was whether they cost much more to own and operate than the cars. But Kirk said the roughly $500 difference is worth the added comfort police officers say they have in the SUVs.

Councilman Jack Clark, a Metro Police detective who drove Crown Victorias during his 12 years as a patrol officer, said Henderson officials were right to go with the Tahoes.

"They're better off-road, even though they're two-wheel drive, because they're higher," Clark said. "The Tahoe is a better overall vehicle."

Clark also noted that the Crown Victoria is not danger-free either. In the past the vehicle has had problems that led to some gas-tank explosions, he said.

The Tahoes are also popular with the police officers on the street, said Sgt. Timothy O'Neill, president of the Henderson Police Officers Association.

The Tahoes are roomier, and although there isn't any additional equipment the officers carry in the Tahoe than the cars, the equipment is easier to get to, O'Neill said.

"And when you sit up higher you can see a lot more of what's around you," he said.

O'Neill also said that the one roll-over accident involving a city police SUV, which was in April, involved a pursuit-certified Tahoe.

Henderson police didn't have a firm figure on how many SUVs were involved in crashes, although a police spokesman said the number wasn't big.

Tim Hurd, National Highway Transportation Safety Administration chief of media realations, said the damage caused by a Chevy Tahoe colliding into a passenger car would be substantially more than a Crown Victoria collision.

He said a Tahoe weighs 5,300 pounds and a Crown Victoria weighs 4,000 pounds.

"(Tahoe) would be a much greater impact hitting a passenger car," Hurd said.

He added that anytime a larger vehicle hits a smaller vehicle the damage and the danger to the smaller vehicle is always greater.

As far as rollovers, Hurd said SUVs are more prone to do so, but he said in the vast majority of fatal rollover accidents, people weren't wearing their seatbelts.

According to a June 2003 study by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration the increasing number of light trucks and vans, including SUVs, is leading to an increase in the number of fatalities to people in passenger cars who are involved in collisions.

"People in the larger vehicle are better off than those in the smaller vehicle," Hurd said.

Erin Breen, driector of Safe Community Partnership at UNLV, said she thinks the use of SUVs by police officers would give them added visibility on the roads and in turn lessen the chance of a crash. She said it would heighten people's awareness of officers on the road.

"I think that's a pretty good give and take," Breen said.

She said accidents that occur while officers are responding to a call may not occur as often if they are in a SUV because people will be able to see them easier.

Breen said that traditionally SUVs have not been considered the safest car to drive but noted that police officers are trained drivers.

"If I was going to trust anyone behind the wheel of one (SUV), it would be a trained driver," she said. Councilwoman Amanda Cyphers said she doesn't see why anyone is questioning the city department's use of SUVs.

"I don't see what the big deal is," Cyphers said. "I feel safer in my SUV than in my car, too."

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