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Council advances $140,000 fire-department settlement amid calls for fleet audit and driver discipline
Summary
Council moved a $140,000 settlement tied to a fire-engine operator backing into a parked car to formal review; members pressed the administration for an audit of fleet usage, clarity on tickets and discipline, and to confirm whether drivers retain driving privileges after incidents.
The Internal Operations Committee moved a $140,000 settlement request connected to a fire-department vehicle accident to formal consideration and pressed city officials for a review of fleet management and driver discipline.
Line item 8.26 described a $140,000 settlement request related to an incident in which a city fire engine struck a parked vehicle. Councilmember Angela Wood Callaway questioned how such collisions occur, asked whether police were called and whether the driver received citations, and said the prevalence of damaged city vehicles is alarming. "We get behind the wheel of a vehicle, something as important as a fire department vehicle ... careless," Callaway said, and she said she will request an audit of vehicles assigned for take-home use.
Second Deputy Commissioner Reginald Jenkins, representing the fire department, said he was not certain why the driver failed to see the parked car but noted that since a series of accidents the department has implemented additional driving training. Jenkins said the driver in the incident received additional training and remains classified as a fire-engine operator. "Since this occasion ... we have put new training parameters in place that all of our drivers are actually going through," Jenkins said.
Councilmembers asked whether the city tracks points on drivers’ records and whether repeated incidents can result in loss of driving privileges. Jenkins said the city follows the driving policy and that periodic driver's-license reports are run to ensure validity and suspensions are caught; he said certain point thresholds can remove a driver’s privilege to operate city vehicles.
Members moved the settlement to the formal docket with a recommendation to approve after no objections were raised. Member Callaway said she will send a memo to the Detroit Police Department to determine whether tickets were issued and will prepare a request to the CFO for a fleet audit.
The committee also discussed broader fleet issues — including questions about who is permitted to take vehicles home and whether some employees should not have take-home vehicle privileges — and requested follow-up information from General Services and the departments that manage vehicles.
Next steps include the formal calendar’s review of the settlement and requested memos on ticketing, discipline records and fleet-assignment practices.
