Hermitage Police Department Vehicles

The purpose of the project is to improve the functioning of the criminal justice system within the Hermitage Police Department by providing reliable police cruisers for the detectives and administrators of the department.  Currently, the department recycles high-mileage police cruisers to detectives and administrators after being used by patrol officers and then decommissioned from patrol upon reaching the 100,000 mile range.  These vehicles were operated under extreme conditions and require frequent repairs and maintenance and have become unreliable and costly to maintain. 

The primary activities would be to purchase and equip new Ford Police Interceptor Utility Vehicles for use by detectives and administrators.  This would include the purchase of the new vehicles, the purchase and installation of police emergency equipment for the vehicles.  The vehicles would be used by police detectives and administrators for criminal investigations, crime prevention activities, community engagement and public education activities, officer recruitment engagements, training activities, and networking with other law enforcement agencies, such as the FBI Academy.

The expected outcomes include facilitating public and crime investigation engagements outside of the police department offices, enhancing the sense of public safety in the community, improving the reliability of police vehicles, and increasing satisfaction among police detectives and administrators.

The service area for the project is the entire City of Hermitage, Pennsylvania, along with the Borough of Clark, Pennsylvania, which contracts with the city for the provision of police services.

The intended beneficiaries are the police detectives and administrators who will have access to the new, reliable police vehicles, and the residents, businesses, and visitors of the service area who will enjoy more efficient police services.  Additionally, the project will create a ripple effect providing access to recycled vehicles for two School Resource Officers engaged in preventing and combatting juvenile delinquency, and to department officers who are members of the Mercer County Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT) who provide quick response to volatile incidents before they become more dangerous to the public.