Village reaps benefits of police command vehicle in more ways than one

LOMBARD, Illinois—Chances are that if you live or do business in Lombard, you've seen the Lombard Police Department's mobile command vehicle. It's used for major crime scenes, as a mobile command post, to establish a police presence at major community events and other incidents when a visual police presence is required. But did you know that the vehicle was purchased entirely from drug seizures and funds accumulated from DUI arrests?

The nearly $200,000 purchase of the mobile command vehicle, which was made in 2008, replaced an older vehicle purchased in 1994 with drug seizure funds as well. The village was also able to sell the older vehicle, as is, to a neighboring municipality, after transferring the usable equipment to the new mobile command post.

The funding for this expenditure was a creative approach the village opted for in order to save general fund dollars that could be used for other expenditures. The drug seizure and DUI funds are restricted in that they are only able to be spent on law enforcement and commodities that will assist in the prevention of alcohol-related criminal violence throughout the state.

“We really outgrew our former mobile command vehicle,” said Lombard Police Deputy Chief Tom Wirsing. “We began to see a need for a larger vehicle years before the new one was purchased,” he added. “The current vehicle gives us the capacity to properly manage a major crime scene, weather event or special event, and, it gives us options for the future, as needed,” Wirsing added.

“Our mobile command vehicle is a vital part of our fleet,” said Lombard Police Chief Ray Byrne. “I am happy to be able to report that Village funds were not used to purchase the vehicle,” he added.

During the past few years, all village departments have been looking at various ways to save money, reduce village expenditures and combine resources yet still deliver the same quality services that Lombard residents expect to receive. The purchase of the mobile command vehicle using non-village dollars is one such example.