ERVING — After the cancellation of a new cruiser ordered to replace one totaled in an accident, Erving is instead getting the county’s first fully-electric police vehicle.
Last week, the Selectboard declared a 2019 Dodge Charger as surplus property and signed the vehicle’s title over to the town’s insurance company. The cruiser was damaged during an August crash that resulted in minor injuries to four people.
To replace this cruiser, the town had planned to order a 2023 Ford Interceptor, a hybrid vehicle, but Selectboard Chair Jacob Smith said the town would potentially have to wait until “mid to late 2024” to receive the order. After talking with town officials and MHQ, one of the state’s largest public vehicle suppliers, Smith said the town would be able to order an all-electric 2022 Ford Mustang Mach-E.
“As a Green Community, we’ve been looking at things around that direction and the hybrid SUVs are something we now have two or three of and have been satisfied with,” Smith commented.
The plan, Smith said, is for Police Chief Robert Holst to use the Mach-E as his administrative vehicle. His current Ford hybrid SUV will be outfitted as a patrol vehicle to replace the totaled one.
“We can get an understanding of, how does it perform, what is it like with charging,” Smith said. “All of this is new, just like the hybrids when we first did them.”
Smith said MHQ offered the Mach-E to the town at the same price as the 2023 Ford Interceptor, which Holst said is a good deal.
“We saved money going this route,” Holst said. “I think the original was $57,000 that (Town Administrator) Bryan (Smith) had signed; this came in at $53,000.”
Holst said he believes this will be the first all-electric police vehicle in Franklin County and one of very few in all of western Massachusetts. In May, the city of Easthampton announced it was purchasing two Tesla Model Y electric vehicles that its Police Department will use in its traffic bureau and its administrative or detective division.
Deerfield Police Chief and head of the Franklin County Police Chiefs Association John Paciorek Jr. confirmed Erving will be the first department in the county to have an all-electric vehicle, which is “great news.” Paciorek added that the “vast majority” of local departments have transitioned to hybrid cruisers, although the production times and prices of these vehicles are higher than he’s ever seen.
“It is taking 12 to 18 months from order to delivery,” Paciorek wrote in an email, “and from 2022 to 2023, the base price is increasing by over $8,000. Never in my 28-year career did I imagine paying $60-plus thousand for an equipped police cruiser.”
Erving’s Mach-E will be ready for pickup by early to mid-October, but outfitting it with lights and equipment may take a little longer.
In other police-related business, Selectboard member William Bembury requested Holst look into defensive driving training following the accident. The Massachusetts Interlocal Insurance Association (MIIA) offers a driving simulation that towns can request to participate in. Bembury said that even though the crash was an accident, the town should still look into using the simulator to demonstrate “that we took some action” in keeping residents safe.
Town Administrator Bryan Smith said if Erving pursues the training, the Fire and Highway departments will be invited to participate, along with neighboring towns.
Holst said he will look into it, but emphasized that his officer did “everything by policy and according to his training.”
“It was just that, an accident,” Holst said. “It wasn’t reckless behavior.”
Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com or 413-930-4081.