Supervisors OK Sheriff’s request to purchase more than 80 vehicles

The Board of Supervisors today authorized Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco to proceed with acquiring 84 vehicles, including a bomb truck, to bulk up the sheriff's fleet and replace aging vehicles, many of which fell into disrepair while parked in a storage yard.

"We absolutely need these new vehicles," Bianco told the board ahead of its 5-0 vote. "We're not asking you for more money to get them."

The total acquisition price will be $3.66 million, with the department drawing on a cash set-aside of $735,000 to procure 19 vehicles, and the rest being financed via Banc of America Leasing & Capital, according to agency documents.

Three dealerships were awarded contracts for delivery of the vehicles -

• Braun Northwest Inc. in Chehalis, Washington,
• Fritts Ford of Riverside, and
• Winner Chevrolet in Colfax, California.

The majority of the vehicles will be Ford Interceptor SUVs used for patrol. However, there is also a customized Dodge Ram 4500 Bomb Truck and assorted other pickups that will be utilized for a variety of purposes, documents stated.

Bianco said the department, under his predecessor Sheriff Stan Sniff, acquired 324 Ford Crown Victorias in 2010 for patrol, but most ended up parked in a county storage yard, exposed to the elements and plagued by "rat infestations," rendering them unusable.

He did not elaborate on why they weren't put into service.

The current vehicle replacement rate is close to 300 per year, the sheriff told the board, and the current usable fleet is roughly 1,800. He said 2,000 is the target figure.

One public speaker, Avalon Edwards, a frequent critic of public safety spending, said the same money the sheriff intends to spend "could pay for meals and rent'' for area families in need.

"If the county has $3 million to spare, provide it to residents living below the poverty line,'' she said.

Bianco reiterated that he was not asking for additional appropriations, but relying on existing revenue and outside financing to complete the fleet upgrades.

The supervisors did not express objections, asking only what might happen to some of the outdated Crown Victorias idle on county property, and Bianco replied that many would be going on the auction block.