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Oak Harbor police ask council to authorize two used cruisers and order a hybrid interceptor; chief cites faster response with take‑home fleet
Summary
Chief Tony Slowick asked council to approve buying two surplus 2016 Ford Interceptors from Fircrest for $10,000 each plus estimated $15,000 outfitting and to authorize a 2026 hybrid interceptor under state contract (estimated $50,000 vehicle + $30,000 outfitting). Staff said the take‑home program reduced response times and the purchases will be on the Feb. 17 consent agenda.
Chief Tony Slowick told the Oak Harbor City Council workshop that the police department needs two additional vehicles to support assigned take‑home vehicles for officers. The purchases staff described were already budgeted or included in a mid‑biennium amendment; the workshop sought council questions before a consent‑agenda motion scheduled for Feb. 17.
Slowick said the department negotiated the purchase of two surplus 2016 Ford Interceptor utility vehicles from the Fircrest Police Department at $10,000 each (the original asking price was $12,000). He said the vehicles are roughly 85% equipped and have 63,000 and 73,000 miles; city maintenance staff judged them to have at least five years of service life. Staff estimated about $15,000 total to finish outfitting the two vehicles. Funding would come from the equipment rental/replacement fund (502), for which staff reported roughly $32,008.99 available; Slowick said using the fund and operations budget would leave a roughly $2,101 overage to be covered by police operations.
Slowick framed the purchases as part of a successful shift from a pooled fleet to assigned take‑home vehicles, saying the program has reduced maintenance and improved response: he described recent multi‑jurisdiction incidents and said officers deployed directly from homes during a 12‑hour event, with the quickest on‑scene response from an off‑duty call at 10 minutes.
The second request presented at the workshop was authorization to buy a 2026 hybrid police interceptor through state contract 28423. Slowick said hybrids deliver fuel savings and reduced idle maintenance; staff estimated a purchase price of about $50,000 and outfitting costs near $30,000 (roughly $80,000 total), and said the mid‑biennium budget increased the capital equipment line to accommodate the purchase. Staff said the replacement fund was short by an amount staff estimated at about $7,500 and that the remainder would be covered from the police operations budget.
What happens next: Staff will place the used vehicle purchase and the hybrid interceptor authorization on the Feb. 17 council consent agenda for formal authorization. The workshop included questions about operating costs, call‑in procedures and vehicle life cycle but produced no immediate vote.
