Irwin to buy new police vehicle
Irwin’s police department will not have to wait months to get a new police vehicle because one is already on a local dealer’s lot.
Borough council on Oct. 12 approved spending a maximum of $52,000 on a new police vehicle, a fully equipped Ford Explorer from Jim Shorkey Ford of White Oak.
The borough’s capital reserve account will be tapped to pay for the vehicle, after council approved adding $42,000 to that account.
If the borough does not trade in one of its older police vehicles — a 2014 Ford Explorer model or a 2015 one — the police department would have four vehicles at its disposal, Chief Dan Wensel said. One vehicle, however, has transmission problems.
Councilman Shawn Stitely questioned whether maintaining four police vehicles was “slightly overkill” for the department.
Maintaining four vehicles, Wensel said, allows the department to reduce the use of its newer vehicles during patrol duty, lessening the wear-and-tear on those new models.
The extra vehicle also can be used when there are special events in town, Wensel said, adding that he had to use a public works vehicle during one recent event.
“We have events here, like no other small town,” Wensel said.
Joe Napsha is a TribLive reporter covering Irwin, North Huntingdon and the Norwin School District. He also writes about business issues. He grew up on Neville Island and has worked at the Trib since the early 1980s. He can be reached at jnapsha@triblive.com.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.