Louisville PD adds two new vehicles to patrol fleet

The City of Louisville recently used a USDA facilities grant and Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) funds to purchase two 2022 Chevrolet Tahoe SUVs as patrol vehicles for its police department. The city applied for the USDA grant in June of 2021, received the award last fall and have since been working on getting the vehicles striped and equipped with the technology used by patrol officers today. 

The city used $31,000 from SPLOST funds for its match in purchasing the $40,000 vehicle and adding $37,000 worth of equipment including lights, radios, an in-car computer and printer, cameras, decals, a radar unit, cage and a license plate reader. SPLOST funds were used to buy the second vehicle that does not include a license plate reader. One of the vehicles is what some refer to as a flat top, meaning it does not sport the traditional light bar on the roof and so does not stand out by its silhouette as a patrol car.  

“While the old Crown Vics were the best police cars ever made, we’ve found that these Tahoes are most suited to our policing today,” said City Administrator Ricky Sapp. “It has a lot of room in it and they hold up really well.” 

With these two vehicles, the city’s patrol fleet is up to five. 

“The three we had had gotten to the age that they were starting to have issues,” Sapp said. “We're still probably two vehicles short, but we’re in a whole lot better shape than we were. Of course, I only have four officers right now.”  

Louisville PD currently has two open positions for officers. On staff, there is currently a chief, four full-time officers and one part-time officer. 

“We are always looking for officers, just like everybody else,” Sapp said. “If I was fully staffed, I would be four short, but we haven’t been fully staffed since I’ve been here and that’s been nearly 10 years.”  

With its current shortage of officers, Sapp said that the city has had to cut back on stationing officers at school crossings in the mornings and afternoons. He said that he is looking into reaching out to the sheriff’s office to look into getting assistance with this.