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Cruisers as Billboards
What are your thoughts on this cost saving venture? I know a lot of depts that are seeing the numbers get crunched - this could help a lot of them out.
Councilman eyes free squad cars - with ads
Would it matter to you if the police cruiser that responded to your 911 call sported McDonald's golden arches across its hood? What about a Yahoo! logo on the trunk or, perhaps, a Hooters girl on the side door?
What if the advertisements meant that that $26,000 Crown Victoria wouldn't cost the city or its taxpayers a penny?
A computer-generated example of a cruiser with an advertising logo, from Charlotte, N.C.-based Government Acquisitions LLC.
It's an idea one Omaha city leader is investigating in the name of city savings and public safety.
City Councilman Garry Gernandt, a retired police sergeant, said he got the notion from news accounts about a Florida town that recently signed a deal to get 15 free cruisers through a North Carolina marketing company.
Charlotte-based Government Acquisitions LLC finds businesses to pay for fully equipped police cruisers in exchange for "rolling three-year billboards" - advertising painted right on the cars.
Gernandt said he's hopeful something similar could help Omaha bolster its police fleet.
Sgt. Dan Cisar, a police spokesman, said the Omaha Police Department has 249 cruisers now, 102 of them with more than 100,000 miles. To minimize maintenance costs, the department projects that it needs to replace a third of its fleet - about 83 cruisers - each year. Omaha's 2003 budget includes money for just 10 new police cruisers.
That's why Gernandt has asked the City Law Department to investigate the legal ins and outs of a sponsorship system: how to fairly choose companies, avoid conflicts of interest and determine the size, number and type of ads. He also is checking with Springfield, Fla., and other cities about how they do it.
"We'd have to be discreet, I suppose," said Gernandt, who added jokingly: "But I personally wouldn't mind driving the Hooter car."
Paul Landow, chief of staff for Mayor Mike Fahey, said the administration appreciates Gernandt's intention to save money but has serious reservations about how the advertising could affect police and their public image.
"Our major concerns would go to the professionalism of the police force," Landow said. ". . . In the perception of the public, the police officer could be compromised by commercial interests."
But Omaha Police Union President Tim Andersen said he thinks the idea is worth exploring.
"My only reservation would be which companies would be allowed to advertise," he said. "We wouldn't want anything with liquor or something that would look detrimental to the department."
Not to worry, said Ken Allison, managing partner of Government Acquisitions. The company tailors each contract to the local law enforcement agency's preferences - from conservative mini-logos here and there to full-body ads that make some police vehicles look more like race cars. It prohibits advertisements for alcohol, tobacco, firearms or gambling.
"And we don't do Hooters," he said.
Allison's company has been doing car sponsorship of another sort - for NASCAR race cars - for about 20 years. It changed gears, so to speak, after Sept. 11, 2001.
"Our objective is to provide a vehicle for every officer and to replace that vehicle every three years," he said.
The company got its first police-car contract in May with Mooresville, N.C. - a town of about 40,000 that bills itself as "Race City, U.S.A." and went with some full-car ads. Three Florida cities - Springfield, Dade City and Lake Wales - signed on earlier this month.
Allison said at least 12 law enforcement agencies, most of them in the southeastern United States, have signed contracts with the company, and hundreds have inquired, thanks to news media coverage. No department has yet received its cars.
Councilman eyes free squad cars - with ads
Would it matter to you if the police cruiser that responded to your 911 call sported McDonald's golden arches across its hood? What about a Yahoo! logo on the trunk or, perhaps, a Hooters girl on the side door?
What if the advertisements meant that that $26,000 Crown Victoria wouldn't cost the city or its taxpayers a penny?
A computer-generated example of a cruiser with an advertising logo, from Charlotte, N.C.-based Government Acquisitions LLC.
It's an idea one Omaha city leader is investigating in the name of city savings and public safety.
City Councilman Garry Gernandt, a retired police sergeant, said he got the notion from news accounts about a Florida town that recently signed a deal to get 15 free cruisers through a North Carolina marketing company.
Charlotte-based Government Acquisitions LLC finds businesses to pay for fully equipped police cruisers in exchange for "rolling three-year billboards" - advertising painted right on the cars.
Gernandt said he's hopeful something similar could help Omaha bolster its police fleet.
Sgt. Dan Cisar, a police spokesman, said the Omaha Police Department has 249 cruisers now, 102 of them with more than 100,000 miles. To minimize maintenance costs, the department projects that it needs to replace a third of its fleet - about 83 cruisers - each year. Omaha's 2003 budget includes money for just 10 new police cruisers.
That's why Gernandt has asked the City Law Department to investigate the legal ins and outs of a sponsorship system: how to fairly choose companies, avoid conflicts of interest and determine the size, number and type of ads. He also is checking with Springfield, Fla., and other cities about how they do it.
"We'd have to be discreet, I suppose," said Gernandt, who added jokingly: "But I personally wouldn't mind driving the Hooter car."
Paul Landow, chief of staff for Mayor Mike Fahey, said the administration appreciates Gernandt's intention to save money but has serious reservations about how the advertising could affect police and their public image.
"Our major concerns would go to the professionalism of the police force," Landow said. ". . . In the perception of the public, the police officer could be compromised by commercial interests."
But Omaha Police Union President Tim Andersen said he thinks the idea is worth exploring.
"My only reservation would be which companies would be allowed to advertise," he said. "We wouldn't want anything with liquor or something that would look detrimental to the department."
Not to worry, said Ken Allison, managing partner of Government Acquisitions. The company tailors each contract to the local law enforcement agency's preferences - from conservative mini-logos here and there to full-body ads that make some police vehicles look more like race cars. It prohibits advertisements for alcohol, tobacco, firearms or gambling.
"And we don't do Hooters," he said.
Allison's company has been doing car sponsorship of another sort - for NASCAR race cars - for about 20 years. It changed gears, so to speak, after Sept. 11, 2001.
"Our objective is to provide a vehicle for every officer and to replace that vehicle every three years," he said.
The company got its first police-car contract in May with Mooresville, N.C. - a town of about 40,000 that bills itself as "Race City, U.S.A." and went with some full-car ads. Three Florida cities - Springfield, Dade City and Lake Wales - signed on earlier this month.
Allison said at least 12 law enforcement agencies, most of them in the southeastern United States, have signed contracts with the company, and hundreds have inquired, thanks to news media coverage. No department has yet received its cars.
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