Page 4 • Wednesday , March 23 , 2022 • The Hammonton Gazette
Chief Friel : Nearly 15 newer police vehicles are hybrids
FRIEL , from Page 1 The officers are tasked with the responsibility of taking care of their vehicles , as many officers are in their vehicles for a good portion of the shift . With more new vehicles , the police fleet has been upgraded immensely .
“ We probably have about at least 15 new vehicles from the past
Chief Kevin Friel couple of years … just about every one one of them is a h y b r i d vehicle . it operates off of both the gasoline fuel , but also has an energy reserve cell that ’ s in the vehicle . it builds up the charge in the vehicle , and the vehicle can run at low speed or when it is stopped . All of the emergency lighting equipment , or if an officer is stationary , running radar , observing traffic , the vehicle is running off the battery power . This has actually saved us a lot in fuel , and when you look at gas prices of upwards $ 3.55 a gallon [ at the time of the interview ], this has saved our community quite a bit economically , and it also has saved in our environments . We get green credits for our sustainable community , for the fact of having the hybrid vehicles as a green initiative ,” friel said .
The vehicles allow for a green environment for the community , and in return the police fleet saves valuable fuel . Unfortunately not all of the vehicles are hybrids .
“ in the last group of vehicles that we purchased , two of them are utility pickups , those are not hybrids , but every other vehicle that we have bought , they are police interceptor SUVs , and they are all hybrids ,” friel said .
The police fleet vehicles are also changing in color . The original Hammonton blue color of the vehicles are a thing of the past , as new and more efficient color schemes are available for the fleet .
“ i kind of miss the old blue color , the blue Hammonton color but , it seems that in uniformity , we ’ ve gone to our all black vehicle … it keeps a low profile while we ’ re out there on patrol ,” friel said .
The all-black vehicle helps the police to possibly identify a distracted driver , or someone on their phone , without being recognized immediately , according to the chief .
“ Our vehicles are very well equipped with their emergency lighting package . Officer safety is very important to me , and the public safety is very important to me … the vehicle can be seen 360 , everywhere around the vehicle there is lighting . it ’ s a great thing to have vehicles that are advanced in technology , it even has a feature to protect officers ,” friel said .
The new SUVs offer the police
ARREST , from Page 1 friel said Krasowski was issued the following motor vehicle summonses : unregistered vehicle , failure to possess his driver ’ s license , failure to possess his registration , driving while suspended , unlicensed driver , improper turn at a fleet a safe , affordable , and efficient vehicle that fits in well with their original fleet , according to the police chief .
Vehicle stop leads to arrest
traffic control signal and careless driving .
Carpo was the investigating and arresting officer , friel said .
This report is comprised of arrests and investigations made by the men and women of local enforcement . All suspects and arrested are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law .