Car-Per-Man Proposed For Casper Police Department
Casper City Council will consider investment in a Car-Per-Man program for the city’s police force when it carries out budget hearings at the end of the month.
At its work session Tuesday, Chief of Police Chris Walsh, outlined proven benefits that include lowered maintenance, operation and replacement costs, man hours saved, faster call out times, plus acting as a morale boost and likely officer retention tool.
“And you would see this improvement and presence of police officers, marked police cars, that definitely serve as a deterrent for criminal issues, for traffic issues. It helps stabilize all those things that everybody gets frustrated with. Ya know, Where’s a cop when you need em.”
Walsh points out that most major cities in Wyoming already operate on a one-to-one basis, that is, one car per officer. All report positive results.
The upfront investment has council wavering as to how quick it could be implemented. Anticipated start up would be just under $2.4 million for purchase of an additional 42 vehicles.