By Natalie BazinetStaff Writer
LIMESTONE — With proverbial belt tightening already being felt in the department’s budget, Limestone Police Chief Stacey Mahan had to use a bit of creative problem solving when an LPD cruiser was in a pretty rough accident last November; to replace the vehicle with a brand new cruiser would have cost upwards $26,000.
Aroostook Republican photo/Natalie Bazinet
This 1997 Ford F150 is a welcome addition to the vehicular fleet at the Limestone Police Department.
Seeking a way to get LPD’s fleet back up to strength without putting the expense on the taxpayers, Chief Mahan found a free 1997 Ford F150 through Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office (DRMO) with just about 80,000 miles on it.
Though the truck was obtained by the department for only the cost of gas down to Bangor to pick it up, repairs for the truck were looking to be steep.
Chief Mahan was able to coordinate with the lead instructor of the Automotive Collision Repair Program at the Northern Maine Community College, Robert Collins, to incorporate repairs on the LPD truck into NMCC student’s studies; resultantly, students were able to hone their automotive skills and the LPD truck was repaired for the cost of parts an paint.
Materials needed to get the truck police-ready were covered completely by the $1,500 insurance check received by the department last fall when the old cruiser was wrecked, which means that the department spent a grand total of approximately $500 in getting their fleet up to full strength, according to Mahan. (To get the vehicle running, the department initially spent approximately $500 on vehicular necessities like tires and a working battery).
Once Chief Mahan, and Officers Larlee and Guilemette attached a light bar to the vehicle and applied the decals (made by Blvd. Graphix), the truck was ready for duty.
The $500 investment is anticipated to yield a capable LPD vehicle for the next few years.
Adding the six-cylinder, two-wheel drive truck to the fleet has been overall beneficial for the department for reasons other than the truck’s bed; not only does it get better gas mileage than the cruiser it replaced, it helps alleviate mileage being placed on the departments newer vehicles, like the 2002 Ford Explorer and the 2006 Crown Victoria.
“It’s a nice fit for our department,” Chief Mahan said.
The truck’s bed has already come in handy, making it easier for officers to transport cones, barriers and larger found items — like bicycles — that would otherwise be difficult to get in the trunk of a cruiser.
As the community college students afforded LPD the opportunity to get their fleet back up to full force, LPD is still well within their budget to give something back to the class that saved them thousands of dollars.
A donation $100 will be presented to the NMCC automotive class that made the 1997 Ford F150 fit for patrol in Limestone.
