New Patrol Cars Add Green Spot For Johnston Police Department

Serving and protecting the community is the No. 1 job of the .

This fall, the department added energy conservation to the list of duties.

In October, the department rolled out two new Crown Victorias to add to its fleet of patrol cars. Each year the department retires two cars and rolls out two replacements.

But these new patrol cars are different than the rest.

"This year with the Crown Vics we had one equipped with flex fuel" so it can use E85 fuel, which is mostly ethanol, said Police Chief Bill Vaughn. "We're going to see if the cost benefit is there."

E85 fuel is comprised of 85 percent corn ethanol and 15 percent gasoline.

According to the Iowa Corn Promotion Board, a standard vehicle from the department adds 10,000 pounds of greenhouse gasses to the air annually. With the use of E85, those emissions can be reduced to 3,000 pounds.

The department has taken other green measures with their cars, too.

After some research, the department decided to equip both cars with high- performance, deep-charge batteries.

"In the patrol cars we have items that cause a drain," Vaughn said. "The radio, computer, flashlight charger, that equipment takes a current from the battery. The new battery is intended to provide a current for up to an hour" without running the car’s engine.

Simply turning off the equipment like the computer may seem like a simple solution, but it's not always plausible.

"That means you have to turn them on, that takes time," Vaughn said. "That can adversely affect the response time. We have to be able to go. If you leave them on, then you'll need a jump start to go."

The new batteries allow officers to stop for coffee breaks, lunch or a run to the station without having to turn down the equipment.

Vaughn said that cars are frequently left to idle for a number of reason, including the weather conditions.

"There is the assumption by some citizens when they see a car idling that it's being wasteful," he said. "We have to keep the battery running when it's 85 degrees-plus or freezing and below because the temperatures in a car are extreme and that can affect the equipment."

The new vehicles haven't been in service long enough to assess any savings from the flex fuel, but that will come later. For now, the new batteries seem to be working as designed.

"They seem to keep the equipment running better than in the past, so that's a marked improvement," said Sgt. Eric Spring, who drives one of the new patrol cars.

Spring said the batteries allow them to respond to calls more quickly, because there’s no lag time waiting for equipment to restart.

"Time is always a crucial factor," he said. "It has saved us a little time to get to the calls since we aren't waiting for things to boot back up."

The flex fuel and deep charge batteries are just one way the department is being responsible.

"We have a responsibility to be good stewards of taxpayers money," he said. "I appreciate and expect people and the government to be good stewards of my tax money as well."