Springs police revamp take-home vehicle policy

The Colorado Springs Police Department has revamped its take-home vehicle policy after an investigation by The Gazette last year revealed that mileage logs were either incomplete or missing.

The Police Department’s sloppy recordkeeping made it impossible to determine whether officers were driving their assigned take-home city-owned vehicles on business or for personal use, the paper's investigation showed.

Under the new policy, unveiled Wednesday, police with take-home vehicles still are required to fill out monthly logs to document mileage and destination, which was required under the old policy. But the department has created new mileage logs that Deputy Chief Pete Carey said are “a little more user-friendly” and won’t take so much time to fill out.

“I can guarantee you that there’s going to be accountability and our compliance is going to be watched very closely,” he said.

The biggest change in the new policy is that officers with take-home vehicles are restricted from driving the vehicle home if they live beyond a 15-mile radius that starts at the intersection of Maizeland Road and North Academy Boulevard. The policy, which affects 85 department employees and volunteers, went into effect Tuesday.

But Carey said the 15-mile restriction affects only a handful of employees.

“Employees with assigned take-home vehicles who fall outside the 15-mile radius may park their department vehicle at the nearest police facility to their home,” the new policy states.

“If you’re within that 15 miles, you’re allowed to take a car home,” Carey said. “If not, you have to park the car at the nearest division where you live.”

Cmdrs. Skip Arms and Fletcher Howard have lost their take-home vehicles under the new policy. Arms is commander of information services, and Fletcher is commander of the professional standards division.

“There was a lot of time and discussion put into this, but in conversations with the chief and his staff, we feel that those positions don’t merit a take-home car at this point,” Carey said. “Most of their responsibilities fall within their work hours.”

Carey thanked The Gazette for its investigation, which included a review of the department’s mileage logs.
“I have to say, grudgingly, I appreciate your inquires back in November and December because I think we have cleaned this up very well,” he said. “I think it does strike a good balance between using our cars in the manner they’re intended and getting service out there in the middle of the night when we need it.”