Knox City Chief of Police Chad Dulin presented an update to the Knox Board of Works when they met Wednesday, February 26.
Chief Dulin informed the board that Nathan Chambers has passed his FTO program made it through the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy and that his year probation is up. Chief Dulin recommended that the board approve Chambers be promoted to First Class Patrolman.
Derek Russell has also passed his FTO program. “He’s been put on dayshifts so that we can make sure we monitor and supervise to make sure that he’s following our protocols,” stated Chief Dulin.
As far as vehicles, Chief Dulin said that the department made a recent purchase. “I located two 2022 Tahoe’s, fully equipped at Chicago Motors.” The chief went on to explain that when the dealership receives the vehicles, they’re sold fast. “The mayor made an executive decision to follow through and make the purchase of the vehicles,” he said.
Both vehicles are fully equipped. One vehicle has 22,626 miles on it while the other has 23,672 miles on it. “Both are still under warranty at the 36,000-fleet mark. They are under a drive train warranty at 60,000. Both vehicles are really good vehicles, fairly new,” he said.
The chief went on to state that all of the department’s patrol vehicles are now under warranty. “This would make all six of our patrol vehicles under warranty and really helped us out of this deficit,” he said.
The cost of each vehicle was $58,795 bringing the total for two vehicles at $117,590. The last purchased vehicle was in 2023, and the cost of a vehicle was $52,900 for a bare police vehicle. For that purchase, there was an additional cost of $24,000 for the outfitting.
“So, we saved roughly $40,000 by doing the purchase of these two rather than doing the purchase of two brand new ones with the extra equipment,” said Dulin. He added that the equipment for the two vehicles matches the equipment the department already uses. “They really mix into our fleet really well.”
Mayor Estok stated that the Redevelopment Commission purchased one of those two vehicles and the funds for the other vehicle were already budgeted.
Chief Dulin thanked the board for their support. “We have the nicest fleet, I’m going to brag, probably in the state. They’re beautiful cars. The morales picked up. The equipment’s fantastic.”
Last month’s call numbers are as follows:
Animal Complaints: 3
Assaults: 1
Business Checks: 149
Extra Patrol Requests: 69
Lockouts: 15
Speak to Officers: 37
Traffic Stops: 96
Total Answered Calls in January: 551
Arrests: 16
The board approved the chief’s recommendation and approved Chambers being promoted to First Class Patrolman.
