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College Vehicles: The Thrifty Right Hand Versus the Wasteful Left One
The College has a fleet of vehicles for various purposes, including serving the President. Jim Kim was rumored to have had the use of three College cars: one for himself, one for Mrs. Kim, and one for the family nanny. Not so for incoming President Phil Hanlon ‘77. He’s downsizing the College’s Park Avenue Ultra (licence plate: “Vox 1”) in favor of a Toyota Prius. Good move, both as symbolism, and in order to save a few bucks that could go to better use.
Regrettably, the spirit of living within one’s means has not yet been picked up by the College’s Safety & Security department. S&S recently traded in its hybrid Ford Escapes for Ford Police Interceptors, high-powered sports utility vehicles normally only sold to law enforcement agencies:
I have no idea why the College needs these 304hp, 3.7l, monsters. They are an unjustifiable choice for S&S’s tiny jurisdiction; after all, the maximum speed limit in Hanover and on the road up to DHMC never tops 40mph. And Interceptors only get 17mpg — though mileage may vary, especially for certain S&S officers who sit for hours in their vehicles with the motor running while watching movies on their laptops in the parking lot at Thompson Arena. Did you guys think that we wouldn’t notice?
In fact, these overweight cars are an illustration of one of the challenges facing President Hanlon: he might make good choices himself, but he has his work cut out for him in imbuing the sprawling bureaucracy with the right values.
Addendum: An arms race seems to be under way in low-crime Hanover. The Town of Hanover Police has upgraded its fleet from the Crown Victorias (below left) that have been in use for four years to the sedan version of the Ford Police Interceptor — no need for the SUV edition, I guess.
New Hampshire already has one of the lowest crime rates in the nation. Do we need even more heavy armament to to safeguard the citizenry?
Addendum: Chief Giaccone, a faithful reader and a fine man — despite our differences of opinion on policy — writes in with a comment:
I just read the blog article on police cruisers. We are actually getting 16% better gas mileage from our new cars. We were not looking for power, but durability and functonality, as cruisers are the offices for the officers.
The Chief has had some health problems recently. Let’s all wish him a speedy return to good health.
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