North Judson Town Marshall Kelly Fisher presented town council members with a few different options for police vehicles when they met Monday night.
Fisher told them that she’s been seeking a vehicle that can be utilized by Officer Rico Simpson once the K9 is obtained from Vohne Liche Kennels.
She explained that $10,000 is currently set aside for the purchase of a code enforcement vehicle. However, she presented members with a proposal to utilize that money for a K9 vehicle instead.
Fisher said, “If we can hand Rico’s car down to the ordinance officer and then maybe if we could use that $10,000 plus maybe another 5 out of our donations to buy him an SUV.”
She mentioned that if their current part-time K9 officer chooses not to continue his contract in February, the new K9 SUV could replace the part-time vehicle on the insurance. If that were to happen, the cost of insurance would not be impacted.
She showed members a few different used SUV options, one of which was fully equipped. She explained that if they went with any of the others, the only necessary attachments that would need to be purchased would be the NJPD Decals, a heat sensor and a door popper.
Other additions such as lights, mounts and the dog kennel are already available through the police department. She stated that equipping a car from scratch costs around $8,000, so re-using some of the features they already have will save them a lot of money.
Fisher added that Simon’s Speed Shop offered to install the kennel and the necessary internal features in whichever vehicle is selected.
Council members asked Fisher to select the vehicle she wants to go with and write out all of the things that would need to be added. They said they would officially consider her recommendation at the next town council meeting.
