Addison Officials Consider Buying Luxury Police Cruisers
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ADDISON (CBSDFW.COM) - Forget the old Crown Victorias or the even Dodge Challengers, the city of Addison is considering luxury cars for police cruisers.
The Audi Q7, BMW X5, and Volvo XC90 all made the list of options presented to city council Tuesday night.
"I'm trying to wrap my head around why would they even think about this," said Paul Walden, a local resident.
In December, the mayor postponed a vote to purchase 14 news police cars, directing staff to look at innovative options that would improve the city's brand.
"It might be fun or creative to do something different," said Mayor Todd Meier.
The focus on branding, though, confuses Walden.
"I don't know really what that means. What's the matter with Addison's brand? Do we have a bad reputation?" said Walden.
But of five options the city staff came back with, only one fell within the city's half million dollar budget – a Ford model made specifically for police.
According to its research, purchasing Audis would leave the city almost half a million dollars over budget.
The price difference is big enough the mayor says he is no longer considering higher end cars.
"I think when you look at the financial analysis, it probably doesn't make a great deal of sense," said Meier.
He's still glad, though, city staff took the time to investigate its options.
Walden is not.
"We had to have staff research this, waste all their time, and take more tax payer dollars to determine what we already knew," he said.
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