Soaring Fuel Costs Force Cops to Get Creative

Desperate to offset the skyrocketing cost of fuel, law enforcement agencies across the U.S. are getting creative in their efforts to stretch a gallon of gasoline.

From Los Angeles to Tennessee, departments are trying everything from increased foot and bike patrols to hybrid patrol cars to ban against idling engines, all at the direction of police chiefs and sheriffs frightened at the prospect of burning through their entire 2008 budgets long before the year is out.

As record gas prices sweep the nation, individuals and industries are forced to cope. FOXBusiness.com spends the week investigating the impact of ever-increasing gas prices.

Perhaps nowhere is this spirit of innovation more at work than in Holly Springs, Ga., where the city council voted last week to increase the fine for speeding by $12 to help recoup money pouring out of the city’s coffers to pay for fuel.

Holly Springs Police Chief Ken Ball came up with the idea while watching his 2008 operating budget disappear as a barrel of oil soared past $130 and gas at the pump approached $4 a gallon.

The larger fine will go into affect July 1, and the town has already been “inundated” with calls from municipalities around the country looking to emulate the idea, said Holly Cothran Drake, Holly Spring’s community affairs manager.

“When you’re faced with an unexpected rise in costs like we’ve experienced, you have to devise a solution. We looked at various options, but this option of raising the fee on speeding violators allowed us to maintain our high standards of protection for our citizens, and it allowed us to keep the burden off of our taxpayers. So it’s really a win-win situation,” she said.

Atlanta is mulling a similar ordinance.

In Los Angeles, where gas is over $5 a gallon, the LAPD feels it got out ahead of the curve on this problem by introducing hybrid cars into its fleet over the past 12 months. Spokeswoman Ana Aguirre said the department has reduced its use of gasoline by 60,000 gallons in the past fiscal year.

Half way across the country, West Lafayette, Ind., Police Chief Jason Dombkowski hopes ethanol provides a solution.

The city just bought seven new Ford Crown Victorias, all of them flex-fuel compatible, which means they run on E85, a fuel mixture comprised of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline.

“We can’t affect the price of gasoline, but we can affect the consumption quantity,” Dombkowski said.

Dombkowski said the police department pays about $3.80 for a gallon of gas and $2.44 for a gallon of E85, for a wholesale savings of $1.36 a gallon.

The department’s patrol cars began running on E85 last week and Dombkowski said he will monitor costs for six months to determine the savings to the city.

During the peak summer season, the West Lafayette P.D. consumes between 3,000 and 4,000 gallons of fuel a month at a cost to the city of between $11,000 and $13,000, according to the chief.

“If we can reduce our costs by as much as $1,000 per month we’ll be able to stay on budget,” he said.

At 333 square miles, Bradley County, Tenn., is too big and too rural for foot patrols, said Sheriff Tim Gobble. But there are plenty of other ways his deputies can save on fuel, he said.

Located just north of Chattanooga, Tennessee’s fourth largest city, Bradley County has a growing population headed toward 100,000. More people means more work for the sheriffs department, and that means more money spent on fuel criss-crossing the county.

“Combine a serious increase in usage with an increase in price and you’ve got a serious problem,” said Gobble.