Addison officials consider luxury squad cars for police

Addison police could soon be on patrol in luxury squad cars.

Addison's mayor Todd Meier said the city prides itself on being innovative and BMW's, Audi's or Volvo's used by police could be good for the city's brand.

The BMW X5 is one of the options Addison staff members were asked to analyze as a possible police squad car. The mayor said he got the idea to explore other options because in the 1980s the town was known for its distinctive fleet of Volvos.

Neil Resnik, a longtime critic of the mayor and former Addison city council member, believes that luxury squad cars would give the city the wrong kind of publicity.

"We're constantly struggling with the pay rates for employees and staff I'm not sure that spending money on high end squad cars is a good value," Resnik said.

Unlike Addison's current Chevy Tahoe that is specifically designed to be a police car, the BMW X5 is not. But the mayor says BMW's are used as squad cars in Europe.

"It's a significant decision from dollars and cents as well as our brand. I wanted to explore all those options before we make a decision with taxpayer dollars," Meier said.

Addison staff was scheduled to present its cost-benefit analysis to the city council at Tuesday night's meeting and the council will recommend which option they want to pursue.