Tulsa Police/Taxpayer question

[izmophonik]

Has anyone ever brought up the observation that Tulsa Police drive their cars home between shifts?  Maybe there is a logical reason for this but essentially aren't the taxpayers paying for gasoline so these employees can run home and back to work?  What if they want to go to the movies?  Get groceries?  What do they do?  Do we pay for that too?  

Passing thoughts...

[RecycleMichael]

I have never seen a police car going to the movies or get groceries.

I think it is acceptable to have policemen have take-home vehicles as long as they live in the city limits.

[izmophonik]

I haven't seen a policeman do either of those two things.  However, I did see a policeman drop his child off at daycare one morning where my son used to go.  That experience made me wonder.

[tulsa_fan]

an officer shouldn't be using his police vehicle for personal use.  Granted some pick up dry cleaning while on duty, I think that is fine.  I don't think there is ever an excuse for an officer's child to be transported in a partrol car, unless they are going to jail.  My husband and I both agree, that is not only wrong under their agreement, but it is also dangerous.  You never know what can happen out there and some people don't like police.  I don't want my child in the car with him on duty.

[Wilbur]

quote:Originally posted by izmophonik

Has anyone ever brought up the observation that Tulsa Police drive their cars home between shifts?  Maybe there is a logical reason for this but essentially aren't the taxpayers paying for gasoline so these employees can run home and back to work?  What if they want to go to the movies?  Get groceries?  What do they do?  Do we pay for that too?  

Passing thoughts...

Are you opposed to the officer going home to eat?  To pick up needed equipment?  To use the restroom?  To change uniforms after a 'messy' call?

[nathanm]

quote:Originally posted by Wilbur

quote:Originally posted by izmophonik

Has anyone ever brought up the observation that Tulsa Police drive their cars home between shifts?  Maybe there is a logical reason for this but essentially aren't the taxpayers paying for gasoline so these employees can run home and back to work?  What if they want to go to the movies?  Get groceries?  What do they do?  Do we pay for that too?  

Passing thoughts...

Are you opposed to the officer going home to eat?  To pick up needed equipment?  To use the restroom?  To change uniforms after a 'messy' call?

Or to drop his kid off at daycare on the way to work?

[RecycleMichael]

I have benefitted from this policy. When I was around 13 years old, my father was a Tulsa Police officer with an own unmarked police car.

In the summer, he would occasionally give me a ride home from the downtown YMCA after his shift ended. He always said that it was against the rules to transport any citizen in a police car unless they were under arrest.

He warned me that if we were involved in a traffic accident, it would be easier to explain why he was arresting me than to explain why I was in the car.

Because he was a good driver, I have a clean arrest record.

[tulsa_fan]

ha ha!  I agree, an unmarked car would make it hard not to swing by and pick up your kid on the way home.

When I ride around with my husband, he always says he can't be involved in a pursuit with me in there vehicle so I should be ready to jump at all times, he promises he'll come back to get me!

[sgrizzle]

quote:Originally posted by Wilbur

... To change uniforms after a 'messy' call?

Ewww...

[tim huntzinger]

Who cares? And how dare anyone question TPD policies! Let 'em drive around, they are doing a public service every time they show their colors, right?

[OUGrad05]

I have no issue with cops taking their vehicles home.  They put up with enough BS and are underpaid as it is.  So taking away their takehome car would be terrible IMO.

[tim huntzinger]

I categorically oppose constables driving official use vehicles home as a benefit, but would support the practice as a crime-reduction tool - any evidence it does? BTW, sick of hearing our civil servants cry about their pay and jobs when no one is forcing them to take a particular occupation.  That includes social workers with guns.

[OUGrad05]

quote:Originally posted by tim huntzinger

I categorically oppose constables driving official use vehicles home as a benefit, but would support the practice as a crime-reduction tool - any evidence it does? BTW, sick of hearing our civil servants cry about their pay and jobs when no one is forcing them to take a particular occupation.  That includes social workers with guns.

It is a crime deterrant which has been the primary reason why they take them home.  

Just because a teacher or a police officer freely takes a job does not mean we should pay them subpar wages.  We lose a LOT of good teachers and law enforcement officers to surrounding states.  Which in some cases leaves us with the bottom of the barrel...you dont have a problem with that?

[CoffeeBean]

quote:Originally posted by OUGrad05

It is a crime deterrant which has been the primary reason why they take them home.

I don't mean to be flippant, but do you have an objective study or link or something supporting TPD's rationale?

Either way, the issue raises some interesting questions.  As a taxpayer expense, incurred by everyone in Tulsa, is the purported "benefit"/deterrent sufficiently balanced across the city?  In other words, are there enough TPD officers living in North Tulsa to confer this "benefit" to the surrounding neighborhood/taxpayers?  

Personally, I think officers should be allowed to drive their patrol cars home, but let's just be honest about it and dispense with the "deterrent" theory because it raises more questions than it solves.

[OUGrad05]

quote:Originally posted by CoffeeBean

quote:Originally posted by OUGrad05

It is a crime deterrant which has been the primary reason why they take them home.

I don't mean to be flippant, but do you have an objective study or link or something supporting TPD's rationale?

Either way, the issue raises some interesting questions.  As a taxpayer expense, incurred by everyone in Tulsa, is the purported "benefit"/deterrent sufficiently balanced across the city?  In other words, are there enough TPD officers living in North Tulsa to confer this "benefit" to the surrounding neighborhood/taxpayers?  

Personally, I think officers should be allowed to drive their patrol cars home, but let's just be honest about it and dispense with the "deterrent" theory because it raises more questions than it solves.

Yeah studies have been done, have they done one specifically on Tulsa?  I dont know...

My dad was OCPD for 31 years before his death.  There was a time when OKC was going to take away their cars, they did some study (this was in the early 1990s) and said that squad cars in driveways and with a neighborhood presence create a deterrant for crime sufficient enough to warrant the costs.  Has Tulsa done one?  I dont know but OKC and others have.

Also it gives the officer(s) the ability to more quickly respond to emergencies even if they may be off duty (or on their way to the office or just starting their shift).  My dad got called out on weekends and overnight so often that if he didn' thave his police vehicle he either a) couldn't respond or b) would have to drive to the briefing station or headquarters to get it that it would waste lots of time and potentially cost lives. This becomes even more important for departments like Tulsa that are short about 150 to 200 officers.