Those of you with take-home squads.....

[TOPPED_OUT]

I have a quick question for those of you with take-home units........it stems from the story on the home page with regards to the off-duty deputy who was involved in a vehicle pursuit.

In the article, it mentioned his child was in the back of the squad car. Does your department (yes, I know it varies by dept..but would like to see the differences between dept. policy) allow for you to use their vehicle for off-duty 'business'...(personal errands, etc.)?

I would imagine the biggest stink behind this officer getting involved in the pursuit was his child being in the back seat.

Sooooooo.......are take-home units allowed to be used for other business other than duty-work? If so, when off-duty and an incident occurs are you expected by your dept. to respond specifically because you are in a squad car?

[SRT936]

Our policy forbids us from using the squad for personal business while off-duty. We can, however, use it for anything work related. Whenever we are driving the squad, we are expected to be equipped to respond to anything that might occur.

[t150vsuptpr]

Any police officer who would risk carrying a child, any child, in his police car and then risk a pursuit with said child in the police car ...
... is an idiot.

Sorry, it's just that no other words come to mind at the moment.

[Matto]

Any police officer who would risk carrying a child, any child, in his police car and then risk a pursuit with said child in the police car ...
... is an idiot.

Sorry, it's just that no other words come to mind at the moment.

No kidding, that guy screams idiot.

[MarineGrunt]

Our policy forbids any personal use of patrol car. Again, anyone with a child in a patrol car = foolish

[Taylor1430]

We are allowed to use our squads for personal use when off duty, within the limits of our jurisdiction and a few miles outside. We are also *allowed* to have immediate family members with us while off duty. With that said, I would NEVER take a child driving around the city with me in my squad. I've given my neices a ride around the block but would not take them out of the neighborhood.

While off-duy in our squad, we are required to stop and assist with things such as accidents...we can pull traffic if we so desire...

[VSPClem]

Off duty the police car can be used for the gym or school....within certain distances from home. No family members though. Hell, we don't even have ride alongs.

[VA Dutch]

When I was a deputy, we were allowed to use the vehicle off-duty, but only for a few 'legitimate' tasks. No family members, friends or other folks were allowed in the car at any time, though.

Such off-duty things where you could use the car included going to the department fitness center, going to get a haircut, picking up or dropping off uniforms, getting fuel, taking official mail to the post office, getting the car washed, etc., etc. When in the patrol car, you were required to have your duty weapon, ammunition, your ballistic vest, a handheld radio and (of course) your credentials.

The brass was pretty cool about it, so long as you were not driving all over the place; and you were not supposed to drive outside of the county. Some agencies are a lot more flexible than others.....that's for sure!

[Traffic_82]

within the county everything flies (no booze or trips to the strip clubs obviously). We have to have our "warbags" and stop if flagged down.

[Irishluck31]

I have always been confused by take home vehicle policies that do not allow for personal use of the vehicle. Whats the point if i can not drive the thing when ever and whereever I want. It takes up a spot in my garage or driveway, it screams "Cop lives here, burn down my house" and then the admin in all their wisdom say you cant drive it and use up City or county gas.

The agencies I know of that have take home vehicle allow their officers to use them how they see fit. Can anyone explain the other to me.

FYI my agency assignes an officer to a vehicle, but doesnt allow the officer to take the car home. I ride or drive to work and get dressed and grab my car out of the lot. Occasionally I get a second officer assigned to my vehicle or i might get assigned to his or her vehicle if I wreck or if it needs work done, but other than that we have our own. I keep all of my gear in the car, and its all ready for me everyday.

[School Cop]

No personal use - the only thing I'm comfortable with is if it doesn't add miles. For example, I'll stop on the way home for groceries. I also will take it to church if I'm going directly from work.

Oh, and you take it if you're traveling to a school - they don't want to pay 32 cents a mile for your POV!

[Omega17632]

Absolutely, Positively no personal use, must be in full uniform.

IrishLuck, you said you're confused as to why give an officer a car but not let him use it off duty....

If you're a state trooper, you have to respond anywhere in the state, so it's faster for response time if you can leave straight from your home if called out. It's also been proven that it's cheaper for large agencies to give their officers take homes because the officers take much better care of the cars. They last longer, and the officers feel more comfortable in them godforbid a pursuit happens, they can drive that car to it's limits.

I don't put any miles on my personal vehicle, Other than my weapons, I can leave everything in it at night. As long as it is locked, and in my driveway i'm within policy. So I don't waste patrol time loading and unloading a car.

[hgunner]

home cruisers

funny this subject just came up--back in 1972 i did a paper on this subject in my cj class--i thought it was a great idea in a small dept where patrol visabilty was a important factor(most civilians think if you see a marked unit the cop inside is on duty)so with a limited amount of officers you show a stronger police presence if unit is driven around town by the off duty officer--many different factors than --liabilty is an important problem--fuel expense another--insurance plus many more--in the late 70's i took an unmarked unit home-- my partner and i would take turns with the squad and we lived close to each other so we would pick each other up

[pujolsfan146]

Any police officer who would risk carrying a child, any child, in his police car and then risk a pursuit with said child in the police car ...
... is an idiot.

Sorry, it's just that no other words come to mind at the moment.

Couldn't have said it better myself. It's sad when a department has to dictate a policy due to the lack of common sense.

We have takehome cars and we are not allowed to use them on personal business. When I drive mine off duty it is either to wash it, change oil or some kind of maintenance. We can also take them to departmental classes we are assigned too. When I am in plainclothes though I do make sure I have handcuffs and for the most part everything that is on my duty belt in the event there is a need to get involved in something.

[Magicman]

We don't have take home cruisers and I'm pretty lucky if I get put in the oldest car in the fleet. At any rate, let's say I had a t.h.c. and personal use and family members are allowed by my dept in my cruiser. If I had one of my children in the car with me, common sense and good parenting dictates to me- no chase. I can get on the radio and give the info needed but I am not going to endanger the life of my child! Not to mention you think stuff like that is hard to justify with the chief? Try the wife!