Crime & Safety

Police Cars Hit the Road After Months of Delays, Accusations

The two cruisers 'were hidden for a couple of months,' Livingston Police Officer Rick Howard claimed.

Two Livingston Police cruisers will finally take the road this week after nearly eight months of sitting unused.

Police officers can get behind the wheels of the new cars by week’s end, Police Chief Craig Handschuch said to the Livingston Council on Monday. It will mark an end to a long series of delays in retrofitting and upgrading the cars, which prevented them from taking the road since they arrived in January.

“This is great,” Handschuch said about finally being able to use the cars. “We really need them in the field.” 

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But the two cruisers also became the center of accusations and finger pointing by at least one Livingston police officer who claimed retrofitting the cars was a fabrication used to prevent the police department from utilizing the vehicles and accused the Department of Public Works of hiding them, according to The Alternative Press. 

The two cruisers, claimed Livingston Police Officer Rick Howard, “Showed up here and they were hidden for a couple of months. They (Department of Public Works’ Fleet Maintenance Department) hid them in a garage on northland pool property. We [the police department] weren’t allowed to look at them or touch them.”

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The problems began immediately when the cars arrived in town in January. Handschuch said the cruisers needed technology upgrades before they could be used.

“It was determined the consoles that were in the cars that were delivered weren't going to support a lot of the technology we have in the cars,” Handschuch said.

The new consoles and equipment were ordered shortly thereafter and quickly became a “nightmare," said Chris Southworth, foreman of the fleet maintenance department that is responsible for maintaining the department’s vehicles.  

Miscommunication and complications from the manufacturer of the consoles caused them to take months to arrive, Southworth said. Arrival of the equipment only caused more headaches: parts were missing and new orders had to be placed, which resulted in more delays.

But Howard, who could not be reached for comment, said to The Alternative Press that new consoles were unnecessary and the police department had no input in the matter.

“The police department had no input on any of the equipment that was ordered,” Howard was quoted as saying in the article. “Nor were there any letters given that they followed or a wish list of what we wanted for the patrol car. The cars were ordered without advising us or without any of our knowledge — at least without mine.”

However, Michael Anello, superintendent of the department of public works, said at the Monday meeting there never have been nor are there currently any communication problems between the maintenance crew and department. 

In addition, Livingston Sgt. John Drumm is the official liaison between the police department and fleet maintenance department—not Howard.

Livingston Patrolman Andrew Ullman, president of the Livingston Police Benevolent Association Local 263, said Howard was not speaking for the local police union.

“[Howard] did not confer with me nor … with any other member of the PBA executive board to respond,” Ullman said. "If those are comments that [Howard] is making, then he is making them as Rick Howard and not for the PBA.”

Ullman did note this was not the first time it has taken several months to get new cruisers on the road after they arrived. However, he declined to address issues between the police department and township, stating Handschuch has the final word on these sorts of problems. 

“That is something that is going on between the department and the [Livingston] Department of Public Works,” Ullman said, “whether those are issues of miscommunication or … equipment.”

The only concern the Livingston PBA has is that cruisers get on the road safely, Ullman said.

“The greatest tool and resource we have are those cars …. If those model cars … are deemed sufficient by both the township public works and the chief, and they are suitable in their eyes, and come to us safe and in good working order, then the PBA has no issue.” 


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