Jamestown Lawmakers Approve Purchase Of New Police Vehicles


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JAMESTOWN – New police vehicles will soon be coming to the Jamestown Police Department after the City Council approved funding for their purchase on Monday.

$160,000 dollars was approved to buy four new vehicles by the Jamestown City Council. The money is allocated from the over $28 million dollars the city received via the American Rescue Plan Act.





Among the advocates for the department include City Councilman Jeff Russell; a former officer himself.

Russell first brought up police vehicle concerns during a community meeting this fall.

Due to a lack of staffing, the Department did not have a dedicated officer to make DWI arrests. Russell tells us those fines have been a source of income in the past to purchase new vehicles.





















“There would usually be a lot more DWI arrests if you had that officer in place, obviously the regular patrol officers are still making those arrests, but that would still limit the funding,” explained Russell in a previous interview. “You have police officers driving vehicles, some of them are over 100,000 miles and that’s city miles, which is much different then highway miles, so I am concerned about those officers driving those vehicles that are in disrepair like that.”

The council previously received criticism for taking too long in approving the funding. Many of the member polled believed they needed more time before approving Mayor Eddie Sundquist’s spending plan.

The lawmaking body also okayed over $277,000 dollars in federal funding from the Water, Sewer and Broadband allocation to help clean up the Chadakoin River. Crews will eye removing various debris and trees that sit at the bottom of the stream.

The lawmaking group did not however approve the new contract with the city’s Fire Department Union. The group plans to review the agreement and take action in the New Year.









 

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