Published: July 12, 2007 08:29 am      

Sheriff’s department acquires new ATV

By Lacie Morrison
lmorrison@mineralwellsindex.com

PALO PINTO – Without using taxpayer money, the Palo Pinto County Sheriff’s Department made a recent addition to their fleet but it’s not exactly a patrol car.

Palo Pinto County Sheriff Ira Mercer said the department was able to purchase a 2007 Polaris Ranger all terrain vehicle through grant money. It is the first ATV that the department has purchased.

The grant money, Mercer, explained, was provided by the inmate phone service, Securus Technologies, of Dallas, when they renegotiated the department’s contract. As part of the new contract, Mercer explained they received $50,000 for equipment purchases, averaging to $10,000 per year for five years.

The Polaris was purchased last week, becoming the first ATV owned by the sheriff’s department.

In the past, “all the officers and myself have used our own personal [ATVs],” Mercer said. “We anticipate using it [the new ATV] to patrol the river, searching for missing or lost people, patrolling Possum Kingdom Lake going from campground to campground [and] special events like the concert [on Sunday]. We’ll use that vehicle more efficiently than trying to walk or take a patrol vehicle. …

“There’s a lot of things we can use it for.”

Although not completely “rigged out” yet, Mercer said it would be equipped with lights and radios.

The ATV is the first purchase from the grant money but Mercer said he anticipates buying another vehicle for the department and other equipment.

Although Mercer doesn’t term it as “extra money,” he noted, “It’s money we can spend like we want to … This thing [the ATV] wasn’t something until now I could justify buying.”