Dalton Police Work to Conserve Fuel

Just like every other American family and business, the Dalton Police Department gets hit in the wallet by rising gas and oil prices.

To reduce the impact on taxpayers, the department started a more focused effort towards conserving fuel in May of 2008.  The goal of the effort is to decrease the total gallons of fuel used by the department, without reducing the level of public service to Dalton's citizens.

To accomplish that goal, the department is working with several methods.  One includes increasing an officer's amount of "foot patrol" for officers, from approximately 15 minutes for a shift to approximately an hour.  In addition, the department has also increased the number of bike patrol officers from four to seven officers, and also purchasing two patrol bikes.  Four additional officers have been certified to operate on the patrol bikes.

Of course, the department can't stop using squad cars completely, but there are also new methods in place to increase efficiency when it comes to fuel usage.  At different times during the day, officers are "doubling up" in patrol cars.  That means that two officers are sharing a squad car, while the unused vehicle is parked in a visible location.  Also, whenever possible, engines are shut off instead of idling while the vehicle isn't moving.  And, just like many people in the community, investigators and command staff are trying to carpool and plan trips more wisely to conserve fuel for their activities.

So far, the new measures are paying off.  On Tuesday, July 22nd, Chief Jason Parker reported to Dalton's Public Safety Commission that the department's fuel consumption was down nearly 1,100 gallons in June 2008 when compared to June of 2007.  Of course, more time is needed to fully measure the impact that the department's new fuel conservation measures will have.  There will be times when fuel usage goes back up depending on the demands of policing the City of Dalton.  But, the department is continuing to look at more ways to make vehicle operations more cost effective and energy efficient.