Item Text

16. ADDITION OF PERMANENT VEHICLES TO THE FLEET Approve a one-time addition to the County fleet for four (4) vehicles to be purchased by the Equipment Services Department for use by the Juvenile Probation Department (JPD) for a total cost not to exceed $96,000. These vehicles are additions to the fleet. Additional operating costs are estimated to be approximately $5,000 per fiscal year per vehicle totaling $20,000 per fiscal year. Vehicle and operating costs will be absorbed in the JPD General Fund operating budget. In addition, approve an exemption from County markings and issuance of non-governmental license plates per A.R.S. § 38-538.03 as these vehicles will be utilized in surveillance operations. Markings are detrimental to the mission. Upon approval of this agenda item and the purchase of these vehicles, vehicle information including year, make, model and vehicle identification number will be provided to the Clerk of Board. These vehicles will be retired at the end of their useful life with no funding from the general fund for the replacement. Two of the vehicles will be assigned to the Juvenile Intensive Probation Supervision Unit (JIPS) and the Juvenile Electronic Technological Surveillance Unit (JETS). Vehicles will be used daily as Probation Officers and Surveillance Officers make daily client contacts in the field. These vehicles will be utilized at the fringes of Maricopa County where officers will have to navigate through dirt and gravel roads and many miles of unpaved roads. The two other vehicles will be utilized as loaner vehicles at the Southeast Facility and Durango Facility. These vehicles are necessary as part of the JPD fleet because they can be used on any given day when other vehicles are being serviced for regular maintenance or biannual inspections. In any given month there are upwards 12-15 vehicles that are due for some type of service; this means that the officers have to utilize a loaner vehicle while their assigned vehicle is in the shop. The services may take anywhere from a day to several weeks at a time. Officer safety comes into play with these loaner vehicles as well. Officers may have to utilize a loaner vehicle when there are circumstances surrounding a field visit where they need to use a car that is unknown to the probationers in that particular area. These loaner vehicles are an essential part of our fleet for the reasons listed. These vehicles are replacements for State of Arizona non-County fleet vehicles that are being retired; thus, these vehicles will now become part of the County fleet. (C-27-14-006-2-00)