Glenwood Police Department Loosens Policy To Allow Officers To Take Cruisers Home

The city of Glenwood is amending a policy that will allow more police officers to take a patrol cruiser home with them when they aren’t on duty.

Under the new policy, approved last month by the Glenwood City Council, police officers will be allowed to take a cruiser home if they live at an Iowa address within 25 miles of the city. Previously, officers could only take a cruiser home if they lived within 5 miles of the city.

The change was made at the request of Glenwood Police Chief Eric Johansen who said a less-restrictive policy could help the department retain officers. He noted that several law enforcement agencies in the area have been more liberal than Glenwood when it comes to allowing officers to take patrol cars home. The Glenwood Police Department currently has three officers who live more than 5 miles outside the city limits, he said.

Johansen conceded there will be added expense to the city associated with the change – an additional tank of gas each week and about 5,000 additional miles of wear and tear on each cruiser.

The city council approved the policy change unanimously at its Oct. 22 meeting, but not without discussion.

Council member Laurie Smithers initially voiced reservations, noting the added expense that would come with the policy change.

“I’m very torn on it,” she said. “First of all, we have a hard enough time getting officers – the competitiveness is huge. At the same time, we’re in a budget situation – you start talking about more gas, more wear and tear on vehicles.

“I hate to consider public perception. I don’t want five phone calls of, ‘Why is there a Glenwood police car sitting in Treynor?’”

Council members Natalie McEwen and Christina Duran support the change. McEwen said the policy could be viewed as a benefit that would help with officer retention and Duran noted that the additional fuel and wear-and-tear costs would be considerably less than the estimated $28,000 the city spends to send a new officer through the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy.

Council member Donnie Kates voiced support for the change for a different reason.

“I just want to say one thing – response time,” he said. “If you need additional officers and they’re at home and they have to drive to the station and pick up a car, response time could save a life.”

The policy change for taking home cruisers doesn’t affect the department’s existing residency requirement. All officers are required to live within 25 miles of the city.