Worcester Police Car Wash Tab Soaks Taxpayers for $24K

Wednesday, May 09, 2012

Walter Bird Jr., GoLocalWorcester Reporter

The next time you’re pulled over by a Worcester cop, take a good look at the cruiser. Is it sparkling clean? It should be. In less than two fiscal years, the Worcester Police Department has spent almost $24,000 washing its fleet of vehicles.

That’s $23,000 more than what’s spent cleaning cop cars in Springfield, the state’s third largest city behind Worcester. That department spent just $1,000 last year at an area car wash, according to Sgt. John Delaney, executive aide to Springfield Police Commissioner William Fitchet.

“We have these coupons that cost $2 per wash,” he said, noting the department has 420 officers and supervisors, and a fleet of 310 vehicles.

The Worcester Police Department has a fleet of 234 vehicles. It spends $4.50 per wash on police cruisers and vans at Scrub-a-Dub on Shrewsbury Street, with whom it has a two-year contract, according to John Orrell, the city’s purchasing agent. It expires Dec. 31, 2013.

Asked about the money Worcester police spend on car washes, Sgt. Delaney said, “I can’t comment on what another department does. We have budgetary problems in our department so we have to try and cut costs where ever we can. We don’t have that kind of budget for car washing.”

Through the wash

Since Jan. 19, according to the city’s online Vendor Check Register, police have submitted 10 car wash bills totaling $4,980.50. Most of the business – $4,765.50 – was done through Scrub-a-Dub. That means the city has paid for 1,059 washes for police department vehicles at Scrub-a-Dub since Jan. 19, when there has been very little snow or rain.

Three bills each were submitted for used Ernie’s Touchless Car Wash and Gervais Car Wash Inc. The total for those washes was $215.

The latest car wash entries for the police department were on May 2: $1,327.50 for Scrub-a-Dub, $80.75 for Gervais and $17.25 for Ernie’s.

Several attempts to obtain a comment on the issue from the police department were unsuccessful. Messages seeking comment from City Manager Michael O’Brien also were not returned.

Issue worth reviewing

“This is the first I’ve ever heard of it. In all my years, no one’s asked me that question,” At-Large City Councilor and former Mayor Konstantina Lukes said when asked whether she thought the bill was excessive. “As a city councilor who pushed to start an online checkbook for accountability, that’s one I have not seen.”

The car washes are part of the city’s budget, but is it really the best use of taxpayer money? Lukes thinks it’s something worth review.

“There was an item before the council a couple months ago about whether we should have in-house vendor to repair police vehicles and perform maintenance,” she said. “I had asked the auditor’s office to review that and get back. I was dealing with repairs. I never even thought about (car washes). I guess I would ask why aren’t we handling this in-house?”

The city does not have a contract with either Gervais or Ernie’s, something At-Large Councilor Kate Toomey thinks should be considered.

“I’d like to see us supporting all our local businesses,” she said. “I’d like to see a little more equity in that. But the one thing I can think of, perhaps, is we could take a look at reducing the number of times cares are washed.”

Winter car wash bills

In 2011, there were 21 entries into the Vendor Register for police department car washes. There are10 already this year. When the department washes its cars is worth considering, At-Large City Councilor and former Mayor Joseph O’Brien said.

The approximately $24,000 car wash tab is “not an enormous expense,” O’Brien said, but something councilors could take a look at.

“I’m not familiar (with the issue), but I know working with the paramedics, we wash our own vehicles part of the year,” O’Brien said. “But during the winter we actually take them through the car wash because of the ice hazard. It all depends on the context.”

Last winter, the police department submitted six bills totaling $3,553.75. In the six months since, there have been six more bills totaling $2,821.

Councilor has no worries

As far as District 3 City Councilor George Russell is concerned, any flak over washing cars is much ado about nothing. He also shot down any comparison to fire departments, many of which typically wash their own trucks.

“I really don’t have any concerns,” said Russell. “I expect the city to wash their vehicles. I do expect a police officer to use a car wash. I don’t want them driving around in dirty cars.”

Unlike fire departments, he continued, police officers are almost always out on the road.

“Firefighters are in the barn waiting for a call to come,” Russell said. “Police officers are out on patrol doing their job. Firefighters work just as hard, but only when an alarm goes off. It’s apples and oranges. I think it’s a non-issue.”

Cost effectiveness is another thing to look at, Russell noted. Hiring someone to wash cars would likely cost far more than the $4.50 per wash currently charged for each vehicle at Scrub-a-Dub.

According to Sgt. Delaney, however, Springfield police officers wash their own cruisers at a washing station at the department.

“Cadets also help out to make sure our vehicles stay clean,” Sgt. Delaney said.

Worcester has a new class of 35 recruits entering training and expected to be ready for action in January – and maybe even washing a few cars.

EDITOR'S NOTE: After this story was posted this morning. GoLocal received a comment from Christina Andreoli, Director of Communications for Worcester. It said:

“We don’t see the value in highly trained police officers washing their vehicles. Our police officers’ time is best spent in continuing to keep our community safe, not washing cars. On a more practical note, the City makes a significant capital investment in our rolling stock, and routine maintenance and care of the vehicle is critical if we are to get the most out of our investment.”