Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Aldeer General Forum Police using patrol cars for personal use

I was just wondering if it's standard procedure for police to use their patrol cars(tahoe's) for driving their families around in on the weekends? I shoot 3 gun matches almost every weekend and the same couple of guys roll up in their patrol cars and the family piles out every time I'm at Brocks Gap. I don't live in Homewood where these cars are from or I would probably raise hell to the chief. Just seems like abuse of tax payer dollars. I'm not saying they shouldn't get to drive the cars home I just think that using it to ride the family around on weekends is way overboard.

Agreed, that is bs and pretty sorry that an LEO would milk the taxpayer that way. Surely that's not within LEO policy

You are lost, having police cars visible cuts down on crime. Most large cities do this.

They may be logging time at the range under training hours. If that's what they are doing, then I really don't see anything wrong with it. If it's just a family outing and has nothing to do with work, then it's totally wrong.

I guess they get to have free gas too since it's the patrol car and all. Oh and "car" actually means Tahoe now anyway.

I don't see how competitive 3 gun matches could be considered training hours but I could be wrong. I have no idea what qualifies

when it accidentally crashes.............the citys insurance won't be covering the family.........just the employee.

Ask him.

I don't know either, but I'd imagine some hours are logged in a classroom without a gun ever going off, so shooting matches would qualify to me. But I'm just a dumb fireman .

Yep.

Bet it would. They may drop them after that, but it would cover them I bet. I see cops carrying their kids to school, picking them up, etc. all the time. I don't see any problem with that either, but it's just my opinion. I think any time you're able to spend with kids/family is a great thing. Just don't abuse the taxpayers while doing so.

So any government official whether federal, state, county, city, ect should also be able to use vehicles owned by the tax payers for the same reasons? Just trying to clarify......because there is no difference. And I don't think the unauthorized passengers would be covered in the case of an accident.

most agencies have a policy on using marked vehicles for off duty use. Most officers drive them to and from work and also use them for extra jobs. I don't have a problem with the officers using them, within reason. I personally wouldn't tote my family around in a marked unit, there is to many instances of crazies shooting randomly at police cars for no reason. I wouldnt put my families safety in jeopardy for saving a few dollars in gas. JMHO

I have an un-marked unit that I drive. There are 1 week out of the month that I am the Detective on call. My on call week runs from Friday to Friday, during that week I am required to drive my assigned unit everywhere I go. That includes to church or any other place I may go. Sometimes my wife rides with me, I am not agreeing with the officers driving there marked units for any reason off duty, my situation is different, or are they assigned to a SRT Unit and maybe the shoots fall on their on call times ? Don't know, maybe ask them in a non threatening way ? I mean in a way that doesn't have you coming off like a smart a@$. If they are just driving the units because they can, I, as a LEO, don't want anymore negativity than we already face.

OK, this is what the ethics commission has said about this matter. A police officer is a police officer 24 hours a day and is expected to act upon an emergency situation he encounters whether he is on or off duty, therefore, it is reasonable and not abusive to use his patrol vehicle while off duty. Also there is a lot to be said for the visibility factor.

The old sheriff in Dallas county, the late W.D. "Cotton" Nichols had a hard and fast rule. All his deputies could use the patrol car for whatever in the county, but he had better not ever hear of them riding past a stranded motorist and not stopping. That was big with him. Not only were you misusing county equipment, but, more importantly, you just angered a voter.

Having said that, I have a problem with using it as a family transport vehicle, and I never did because I didn't want to expose my family to the types of emergency situations I routinely encountered. But when I was active duty I always was a stickler about not being a hypocrite anyways.

I see and hear of police giving people rides after accidents or being broke down all the time. Are they chancing losing their jobs for these people?? I doubt it. Also, when someone gets arrested and they wreck, are they gonna let the criminal go uncovered? Why hell no. They have more rights than any non-criminal. I'm sure you know that.
As far as government officials and their vehicles; I'm quite certain as long as they are using it for business whether it's training, going to lunch or whatever, they can use them. If they are carrying their kids to school enroute to work, then good! They should be able to do that unless they are required to be at work before 8 or so.
As a fireman, if they want me to drive to Tuscaloosa for a week long class, they will either provide me with a car or pay my mileage, or I won't go and I'll continue working on the side instead of going to that class and make money instead of spending it on going to a class. I just don't see an issue with driving a gov. owned car to do training or carrying kids to school if it's on the way anyway.
As said before, it's just my opinion. Doesn't bother me unless taxpayer money is being abused. So far, I can't see where it is in this thread.

I would say its a perk of being an officer, which I am perfectly fine with because of the job they are doing. Thank you to all the LEO on here for risking your life to protect mine. I'd rather my tax dollars go to putting gas and maintenance in a police vehicle to be used off duty than I had to fill the bellies of low lifes with lobster and steak from an EBT card.

These guys put their lives on the line every d***** day and do their part to keep society together...and aren't compensated nearly enough for it. Especially in today's crazy "anti-cop" environment. I'm okay with them and their families riding around on my dime. JMO

Let me answer your question with a question. Are LEO ever really off work? If they were to witness a crime or see suspicious activity while technically being "off the clock" wouldn't you expect them to take some sort of action? Even if it's only to radio it to another officer?

I would appreciate those vehicles being seen with regularity. It is a deterrent, whether you realize it or not.

Some departments allow it, but most don't. The ones that do just want their cars to be seen as much as possible, which is smart. I'm gonna bet these guys are getting to use it because it's "training related"