Town board approves police expenditure

By Dave Vieser – Cornelius commissioners on Feb. 16 unanimously approved spending $356,000 to purchase eight vehicles for the town’s police department.

Police Chief David Baucom said the department plans to buy five Dodge Durango SUVs and one Chrysler Pacifica minivan from the Ilderton dealership in High Point through the county sheriff’s procurement contract, so competitive bidding was not required.

The SUVs will be used as patrol vehicles, and the minivan will be assigned to the department’s Crime Reduction Unit.

The department will also purchase two Ford Mustangs from Parks Ford in Hendersonville through the sheriff’s procurement program. The Mustangs will be used for patrol and administrative purposes, Baucom said.

“We hope to have all the vehicles in service by July 1,” Baucom said. “However, there are a lot of variables to meet that date, such as lead times on builds and getting equipment for the installers.”

The Cornelius Police Department maintains a fleet of 70 vehicles and typically surpluses or retires as many vehicles as it purchases each year.

New mental health role

In other news, the police department has added a dedicated mental health clinician to assist residents in crisis through a partnership with Affiliated Sante’ Group and a two-year grant from the North Carolina Governor’s Crime Commission covering nearly half of program costs.

Clinician Loleita Page will serve under a co-responder model in which officers assess calls and determine whether a law enforcement or clinician-led response is most appropriate.