Hyattsville council OKs purchase of 16 new vehicles

Also plans to apply for grant to supplement safety plan

The police department will receive two new police cruisers for new officers and replace nine other cruisers, with seven in the patrol division, one in the K-9 unit and three in the command division.

Chief Douglas Holland said the 2008 fiscal year’s budget included the addition of two new police officers. ‘‘Some vehicles will be kept as spare police vehicles and some will be sold or junked,” Gardiner said.

The Department of Public Works will replace three Chevy pick-up trucks and a Chevy Caprice with three Ford pick-up trucks and a Ford Cargo Van. Code Enforcement will replace a Ford Taurus with a 2008 Honda Fit. The Chevys and the Ford Taurus will all either be auctioned or scrapped.

In other council business, to continue to expand upon Hyattsville’s involvement with a community-based safety program, the council voted to apply for a Community Development Block Grant.

The city will apply to receive $140,000 from the Prince George’s County Department of Housing and Community Development to help finance the Safe City Project in Program Year 34, which lasts from July 1, 2008, to June 30, 2009.

The Safe City Project is a program initiated by retail giant Target Corp. that is designed to reduce crime in communities through public-private partnerships and technology.

‘‘If we receive the award, the funding will help us hire experts who will help us further develop and implement Safe City,” Gardiner said.

Hyattsville received $60,000 in Program Year 33 – July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007 – that will be used for the installation of equipment used during the program’s pilot phase. Through that program, the city is considering placing surveillance cameras in three of Hyattsville’s commercial areas.