The Courier of Montgomery County reports that following some nudging by the mayor and others in a council session, the city of Conroe is moving ahead to buy 14 Chevrolet Tahoes and two drones for the police department.
The purchase price, $800,000, will be coming out of the city’s Vehicle Equipment Replacement Fund. The purchase of police cars, fire trucks and large equipment is what that fund is designated for.
According to Chief Jon Buckholtz, the Federal Justice Seized Assets Fund will pay for the drones.
The drones cost comes in at around $220,000.
In the first round for a motion to purchase the Tahoes it died for need of a second motion. However, further discussion was requested by Councilman Hardman which revived the issue.
Chief Buckhotlz said his department had vehicles with “quite a few that are over 100,000 miles.”
Caldwell County Chevrolet’s price is good through May, according to Buckholtz, but a purchase in advance is needed to grant time so they can be fitted and delivered with the correct equipment.
Buckhotlz considers the situation “dire,” as they have 105 cars in their inventory with several needing repairs and five having been in wrecks.
The purpose of the replacement fund, according to Mayor Duke Coon, is to make sure the department has reliable vehicles.
Councilwoman Marsha Porter offered that in the future officers should be curtailed from taking the vehicles to their residence.
That wasn’t possible, according to Buckholtz. He said being able to take them home is a way to “attract officers.” Having vehicles at the homes of officers is important to response time.
Buckholz said the use of the drones will be a “force multiplier.” He said they can be sent from the department to various areas to assess situations while officers respond in police units.
The purchase of the drones and the purchase of the Tahoes was unanimously approved by the council.
