TO: Mayor Bien-Willner and Town Council Members
FROM: Brian Dalke, Town Manager
Peter Wingert, Chief of Police
DATE: January 24, 2019
DEPARTMENT: Police Department
Staff Contact Peter Wingert 480-948-7418
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AGENDA TITLE:
Title
Consideration of the Acceptance of a Governor's Office of Highway Safety Grant for a motorcycle
Body
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Authorize the Town Manager to sign a Governor's Office of Highway Safety grant for $27,000 toward the purchase of a Zero Police Motorcycle.
Background
SUMMARY STATEMENT:
In FY 2017, the Police Department was given a $27,000 grant with which to purchase a Zero Police motorcycle. That project came in at approximately $30,000 when fully outfitted for patrol use. The total cost of a fully outfitted electric police motorcycle costs approximately $33,000 in FY 2019.
The use of a police motorcycle has been an effective deterrent and enforcement tool for Paradise Valley. The motorcycle officer has been deployed to assist with traffic enforcement on neighborhood streets to enforce traffic and bicycle laws on a regular basis. The officer has been flexible in his scheduling to be present at the times that are most likely for conflict between bicyclists and pedestrians to occur. Additionally, he has been effective on the major arterials in Paradise Valley in both enforcement and response to collision scenes.
The GOHS has offered the Town $27,000 for the purchase of a second outfitted police motorcycle. Best practices for motorcycle officers is that they are assigned their own motorcycle. The motorcycle is then tuned to the rider's height, weight and riding style. This precludes a single motorcycle from being shared between two or three officers, unlike the Police Tahoes, which can be shared more readily.
An officer already on the department would staff the second motorcycle. This person would be assigned to the Wednesday through Saturday day squad, which is opposite of the curre...
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