HOME . . . . . . CLASSES . . . . . . PUBLICATIONS . . . . . . VITA . . . . . . . BLOG . . . . . . LINKS

Cop in the Hood


Winner of the 2008 PROSE Award for Best Book in Sociology

Buy Cop in the Hood from Amazon.com

Never mind "The Wire." Here is the real thing. --The Wall Street Journal

Cop in the Hood is an explosive insider’s story of what it is really like to be a police officer on the front lines of the war on drugs. Harvard-trained sociologist Peter Moskos became a cop in Baltimore’s roughest neighborhood — the Eastern District, also the location for the critically acclaimed HBO drama The Wire. He provides an unforgettable window into this world that outsiders never see. Those who read it will never view the badge the same way.

Moskos argues for drug legalization as the only realistic way to end drug violence and let cops once again protect and serve. Cop in the Hood shows how officers in the ghetto are less concerned with those policed than with self-preservation and maximizing overtime pay--yet how any one of them would give their life for a fellow officer. Moskos ventures deep behind the Thin Blue Line to disclose the inner workings of law enforcement in America's inner cities.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Cost of a Car?

I've always wondered and never been able to figure out exactly how much police cars cost to operate. Somebody in motor-pool must know, but nobody has told me.

Here's an article in the New York Times about a fleet for OTB. No doubt cheaper than cop cars. The vehicles cost an average of $6,700 each per year. They have 87 vehicles. And no doubt they're cheaper to run since 1) they're not being used much (that's the point of the article), and 2) they're not cop cars.
It has employed three automotive mechanics, seven drivers and a motor vehicle supervisor, who, combined, earned $500,000 a year. In addition to those salaries, the state comptroller found that gas, insurance and outside repairs cost $585,000 a year.
By my calculations that's $12,471 per car per year. Anybody out there know more than me?

In my Policing Green concept, I propose that cops would walk foot for an extra $20 to $50 a shift, with that money coming from gas not burned. Maybe I'm thinking too low.

2 comments:

LibFree said...

I'm really experienced in running fleet programs. Gas alone makes up a small portion of your costs. Don't forget the depreciation of the vehicle (purchase price - sales price), its probably the single biggest expense. Your holding cost calculation would be depreciation + interest + insurance. You might decide to factor in gas and maintenance, but these are variable with the amount of driving. If your average mileage doesn't change much, then go ahead and add those in. If you gave me more information, like vehicle type and average mileage I could probably give you a reasonable cost. Its still all guess work since depreciation can vary so much, but I bet I get close.

PCM said...

Depreciation. Oh yeah.... But in the above example, everything except depreciation costs over $12 grand/year. Wouldn't that outweigh depreciation if you can run a car for 5 - 7 years?

I would love to know that a city pays for insurance on its fleet. And also the fixed expensive in terms of repairs and support staff (mechanics and others at motorpool).

And gas would be for cop cars running all day every day? $50 a day is what I'm figure ($18G/year), but maybe that's way off.

I guess what I'm looking for isn't a specific figure for any specific agency, but rather a general cost of, say, maintaining 100 police cars. Perhaps a mix between Crown Vics, Impalas, and Chargers. 60 miles a day (but with horrible mileage and much AC-on-high idling)?

Feel free to comment here or email me at mail@petermoskos.com