Jim Thorpe looks at purchasing new police cruiser

Unexpected frame wear and tear on the Jim Thorpe Police Department’s 2005 Crown Victoria has borough council considering whether to replace the vehicle.

During a board workshop Thursday night, council requested hard numbers on the cost of a vehicle and terms of a financing agreement from borough administration in advance of its regular voting meeting next week.

Police Chief Joe Schatz said the vehicle, which was primarily used by the department’s detective, likely wouldn’t have passed its next inspection, which is due in November, based on what he was told after the most recent service appointment.

“It only has 100,000 miles on it, but the frame is in really bad shape,” Schatz said. “We did have a longer expectation for that vehicle, but that is the position we’re in.”

Unlike some other vehicles in the department’s fleet, the detective takes the Crown Victoria in question back and forth to the crime lab and training outside of town.

“It gets hit with the brine on some of those longer trips, whereas our other cars are mainly here on borough roads where we don’t really have that issue,” Schatz said.

Borough Manager Maureen Sterner said the police department did reach out to Community Leasing Partners about a three, four or five year financing agreement with interest rates between 4.24 and 4.39 percent depending on the length of the agreement.

“I think we should look at going out as far as we can and making sure whatever option we choose has no prepayment penalty,” Councilman Jay Miller said. “Then we can look at getting something in the budget for next year.”

If the borough goes with Community Leasing, the first payment would not be due until one year after the closing date.

“I do think we have a lot of cars, that is just my observation,” Miller said. “I can remember the days when we had one.”

Miller and other council members said they wanted to see the 2005 Crown Victoria taken out of operation immediately. With that, Thorpe is left with five vehicles in its police fleet.

The police department obtained grant money for the purchase of two of its last three vehicles.