Acquisition of Patrol Vehicles

The City of Hugoton is located in Stevens County, Kansas and is a small rural community located in the southwest corner of Kansas that serves a population of approximately 3,764 as of the 2021 census records. The Hugoton Police Department (HPD) is comprised of five sworn full-time officers, two part-time officers, one animal control officer and one civilian employee. HPD responds to approximately 2,100 calls per year and writes approximately 330 citations annually.

The city needs to expand the police department by adding more officers. With that comes the need for additional patrol vehicles. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), the national average per capita is 2.4 sworn officers per 1,000 inhabitants. The city is understaffed. Many shifts are patrolled with only one officer on for a 12-hour shift. The city is in the planning stages of adding additional patrol officers to the streets. This will also create a need for additional patrol vehicles. City officers have “take home” cars and are often called out at home and off duty, when back-up is needed. Having take home cars allows the officers to respond from home, rather than from the police department. This enables a quicker response time and officer safety concerns. 

The city has two older patrol vehicles that need to be replaced. One is a 2011 and a 2013. It is no longer financially responsible to continue making necessary repairs for vehicles that are over ten (10) years old. If awarded, HPD will purchase two new patrol vehicles to replace older patrol vehicles that will be assigned to new officers as hired. This will help HPD with the cost of putting more officers on the street to combat drugs and crime in our community. The new vehicles will also need to be upfitted with necessary lighting and radio equipment as well as decal marking for each patrol unit. The expected cost for two patrol cars and necessary upfitting to be approximately $128,000. The Hugoton Police Department is requesting grant funds to address this need.