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B y Derek Liebig
The Whitehall Police Department has a few new weapons in its fight against crime.
The department recently purchased and received two cruisers-one new and one used to replace the departments older vehicles.
Three of the department’s previous vehicles were in poor condition and one hadn’t been used in nearly two years.
The department was going to repair one of its’ older Crown Victoria models but were able to replace it with a used 2004 Chevrolet Impala that was previously used by the Bellow Falls, VT Police Department.
The Impala cost the department $2200, approximately $200 more than it was going to cost to repair the older vehicle.
The department spent another $500 to have the lights removed from one of its older cars and installed on the newer Impala.
The other vehicle, a brand new 2011 Crown Victoria was leased from a car dealership Hillsborough, N.H.
Sergeant Richard LaChapelle said the department entered into a three year $7800 lease with an option to outright purchase the car after the third year for a $1.
The older Crown Victoria’s are expected to be sold while the Whitehall Volunteer Fire Company has expressed interest in the old black and white Impala.
Chief Matthew Dickinson said at last week’s village board meeting that he is currently working on designing a logo for the cars and the entire fleet will share a uniform design and marking.
The department also received a grant to purchase two new computers for the vehicles, which are expected to arrive in the next few days. They are also going to install cages in each of the cars to separate occupants in the back seat from officers in the front.
With the two vehicles, the department now has three fully functional vehicles.
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