The South Jacksonville Police Department is making an effort to improve the village’s professional image.
During Thursday’s village meeting, Interim Police Chief Joshua Hallock informed trustees of some changes the public should expect to see in the coming months.
“We want a more complete uniform look to all our squad cars. We are going to reach that goal by wrapping some of the squad cars. We are also going to improve the uniform supply at the department. We are going to issue Class A and Class B uniforms to the patrolman. This will bring everyone up to the same page. Right now we are a little short and this will get us up to an acceptable level.”
Hallock plans to wrap at least five of the eight squad cars, but that number depends on the funds available in the police department budget.
Hallock says wrapping a squad car ranges from $800-$1,300 and feels it is a solid investment.
“It is a 50-75 percent cost savings over having the squad car painted. It immediately gives you a uniform fleet that is universally recognized in the community as our police department.”
Hallock says the South Jacksonville Police Department is at the point where replenishing the uniform supply is becoming a necessity.
“If a guy rips a pair of pants on a car search we have to get him down to St. Louis to get him sized up for a new uniform. It will be a lot easier to take care of the department as a whole by ordering those uniforms in bulk fashion so we can have them on hand in our supply closet.”
Hallock hopes to present more information about the changes during a South Jacksonville committee meeting in the near future.