Richmond police tighten rules on cars taken home

The Richmond Police Department has tightened its take-home policy for officers' cars, Mayor Dwight C. Jones announced yesterday.

Under the old policy, officers were allowed to drive their vehicles home at night, even if they live far outside the city.

The new policy allows exceptions based on operational needs, but it is designed to limit assignments of marked police cars to officers who live in the city and to keep unmarked vehicles within 15 miles of the city limits.

The previous policy did not include geographic limits, and take-home vehicles had been authorized to officers living as far away as Williamsburg, Fredericksburg, Jetersville in Amelia County and Bumpass in Louisa County.

"Within the city limits, a take-home marked vehicle program offers the benefit of an increased police presence and heightened visibility in our neighborhoods. This works to deter crime," Jones said in a statement.

"Allowing selected individuals . . . who live within 15 miles of the city limits to take vehicles home allows for a quicker response to critical incidents and enhances the solvability of crimes.

"What we don't want is a lax policy that allows for vehicles to be taken out of the city to distant localities," Jones added. "I believe the proposed changes that Chief [Bryan T.] Norwood has brought forth will strengthen our controls and set more appropriate parameters."

The new policy also requires the assignment of take-home vehicles that travel farther from the city to be based on operational needs, such as if officers may be called back to duty after hours. The previous policy, approved in 2007 by then-Chief Rodney Monroe, allowed take-home vehicles to be assigned solely on performance, Jones said.

Jones promised to revise the policy this spring when it was revealed during City Council budget deliberations that officers had been authorized to drive their vehicles home even if they live far from the city.

At the time, the city had 255 marked and unmarked vehicles assigned for take-home use. About 65 percent were leaving the city, many to Chesterfield, Henrico and Hanover counties but some as far as Amelia, King William County, Williamsburg and Fredericksburg, according to a Richmond Times-Dispatch analysis of take-home assignments.

The new policy was released to council members yesterday and is scheduled to be discussed by the Government Operations Committee next Thursday. Jones also said Chief Administrative Officer Byron C. Marshall was leading an administrative review of policies for all take-home vehicles by city departments.

In a statement, Norwood said the policy changes "take into account operational needs as well as public-safety concerns." The statement gave no explanation but said Norwood has begun to remove 28 vehicles from the take-home program, a move estimated by police to save $98,000 this year.

The revisions bring the city's take-home policy more in line with those of the Henrico and Chesterfield police departments.

Henrico is phasing out its policy that assigns take-home vehicles to officers who live outside the county. The policy stipulates that they live in contiguous localities. Chesterfield generally limits take-home vehicles to officers who live in the county.

Contact Will Jones at (804) 649-6911 or .