When James Sigman took office as Texas County sheriff at the beginning of the year, one of the issues he said he would address was the department’s collection of patrol vehicles.
Sigman took the first step in his quest to revitalize the fleet, with the purchase of two Ford Crown Victoria interceptor sedans from the Cabool Police Department. One of the cars is a 2009 model with 52,000 miles that was obtained for $10,500, while the other is a 2001 model with 62,000 miles and cost $3,500.
“It is my goal to have our patrol vehicle fleet mixed half between 4×4 vehicles and patrol cars,” Sigman said. “In our rural county, there is a need for 4X4 vehicles, but they are often much more expensive to operate and repair. I believe by putting patrol cars into our fleet, we can reduce our vehicle operation costs, and Ford patrol cars have a history of being very reliable and efficient to operate and maintain.”
Sigman said the department is taking sealed bids for more police vehicles, including four wheel drive pickups to replace existing Chevrolet Tahoe SUVs.
“I am looking primarily at special service 4×4 trucks,” he said. “I believe 4×4 trucks will better serve our 4×4 needs. We often have to recover stolen property, meth labs or remnants of meth labs. These labs cannot be transported in an enclosed vehicle due to their toxic nature, and many times we have to recover large stolen items or large quantities of stolen items which cannot be transported in the Tahoes we currently operate.”
Sigman feels that some of the vehicles being replaced are on their last leg, so to speak.
“Our current fleet has four salvage title vehicles which I plan to remove from service as soon as possible,” Sigman said. “I am in hopes that we can purchase four new vehicles which will have warranties and get better gas mileage than the Tahoes we’re currently using.”