By Don Nelson
The Winthrop Marshal’s Office’s fleet of law enforcement vehicles will soon include a motorcycle and a classic police car: a Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor model. And the Marshal’s Office is also working on a vehicle trade with Okanogan County.
At last week’s Town Council meeting, Mayor Sally Ranzau announced that Marshal Dan Tindall had found two surplus police vehicles that would be ideal for the town: an 1800cc Honda motorcycle, fully outfitted for law enforcement use including lights, sirens and a helmet; and a used “Crown Vic” that also comes with most of the equipment the town will need. Both are in good condition, Tindall said.
The motorcycle will be acquired for $3,200 and the police car for $1,500, well within Tindall’s budget for replacement vehicles in 2018.
Deputy Marshal Doug Johnson is a certified motorcycle police officer, Tindall said.
The marshal said that although the Crown Victoria is a rear-wheel drive car, his experience with the model is that it is reliable in snow if equipped with studded tires. “I never had a problem in the snow” when he drove Crown Victorias while he was a Washington State Patrol trooper, Tindall said.
The town currently has two crew cab pickups that were purchased in 2014. Because both have relatively long wheelbases, they are more difficult to turn around quickly if necessary, Tindall said.
Tindall said the motorcycle will help in stopping speeders because it is more maneuverable. “It’s a great tool for traffic responsiveness,” Tindall said. “We can catch up [to speeders] quicker.” Using the motorcycle will also reduce wear and tear on the town’s other law enforcement vehicles, he said.
Tindall said the town and county are in the process of completing paperwork on swapping one of Winthrop’s pickups for a 2016 Ford Explorer that is currently used by Okanogan County Coroner Dave Rodriguez, who said the pickup would be a more practical vehicle for him.
The town’s two Chevrolet crew cab, four-wheel drive pickups were purchased new in 2014, on the recommendation of then-Marshal Rikki Schwab, at a total cost of $72,753 including necessary equipment. They replaced two aging, unreliable vehicles the town had been using.
