Disruption in manufacturing leads to shortage of cruisers

AROOSTOOK COUNTY, Maine (WAGM) -

The need for new cruisers is proving a challenge for County law enforcement. Kathy McCarty speaks with officials about buying local and how manufacturing shortages have impacted their purchases.

The closure of car manufacturers, due to the coronavirus, has not only had an impact on private vehicle sales. Law enforcement have found it a challenge to purchase cruisers. Chief Laurie Kelly says her department was fortunate to find what they needed at a local dealer.

“Ford, Chevy, all of those have some sort of police package, and we try to keep it local, but we do send bids out. We don’t always get bids back from downstate or anything like that,” says Chief Laurie Kelly, of the Presque Isle Police Department.

Kelly says she was lucky to get an acceptable bid from Percy’s Auto Sales on a Dodge Durango.

Kelly says, “The bid process is done, you know, through us and City Hall. They put it out locally, but they do shop other places too, but normally we get the best bids back locally, so we like to do business in our own community.”

Shopping local wasn’t an option for the Sheriff’s Office, which found itself in dire need of replacing two older cruisers. Dealers that were closer had nothing suitable in stock.

“We certainly always want to buy locally, you know, we want to give the business to the local dealers, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we, you know - the manufacturers have - have basically, you know, shut down the plants. They’re producing very little vehicles, especially police vehicles. So, you know, we had to really dig and search for a couple of really truly needed vehicles, and we, you know, we finally found ‘em in Kentucky,” says Sheriff Shawn Gillen, of the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Office.

Gillen says his agency didn’t want to purchase from so far away, but had no choice. With winter approaching, they needed dependable vehicles to perform routine patrols and respond to calls. Kathy McCarty, NewsSource 8

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