Bullet-riddled police car being replaced

With little on the agenda, Tuesday night’s Clinton City Council meeting lasted only 15 minutes.
During the meeting Police Chief David Crabtree asked, and received, permission to buy a new police car. He said it would replace a 2000 Chevrolet Tahoe sport utility vehicle that was shot up Dec. 7 when Detective Mike Murley was attacked while trying to arrest a drug suspect.
Crabtree said the State of Oklahoma’s bid list had a suitable replacement for $28,224 but local dealer Mc-Kinsey Ford could beat that with a price of $28,170 for a 2018 Ford Explorer designed for police work. He asked that the local Ford bid be accepted and requested an additional $2,000 to outfit the vehicle with extra equipment police cars need.
“Will $2,000 get you everything you need?” asked Councilman Bobby Stewart, a former assistant police chief.
“Trying to get police packages is like trying to pull teeth,” replied Crabtree, stating that it probably wouldn’t.
“Do you feel comfortable with $2,000?” asked Stewart.
“In today’s world, probably not,” said Crabtree.
“If you undershot, you could come back to us (and ask for more),” Mayor David Berrong told him.
When somebody mentioned the possibility of getting a used vehicle, Crabtree did not think that would be a good idea. He indicated in his opinion the ability to get a new-vehicle warranty would be worth the higher initial price.
“I think it’s a good deal,” said Councilman Don Rodolph, referring to the Mc-
Kinsey bid. “I move we authorize the purchase with $2,000 for equipment.”
The vote to go that route was 5-0 with Jason Hulin and Chuy Rosales joining Rodolph, Stewart and Berrong to make it unanimous.
Crabtree indicated that like the old vehicle, the new one will be assigned to the department’s Investigative Division for use by its three detectives.
Prior to the meeting, the chief had given councilmen a memo explaining that if they accepted the McKinsey bid, the new vehicle would cost the city only $20,393, including the $2,000 for equipment.
That was because it had received a check from its insurance company for $9,785 as payment for the damages done to the Tahoe when Detective Murley was shot.
With almost everything on the agenda taken care of, Hulin said he would like to make a formal request that the bridge carrying foot traffic from the shore at Clinton Lake to the boat docks be repaired before summer. He said he’d had a request from somebody who wanted to use the bridge for fishing.
After the meeting Hulin explained to the Clinton Daily News that the estimated 30-foot bridge which connects the shore and the boat ramp had sunk when the water got low and had been removed, but with the water now up it’s needed again. He said the bridge itself is in decent shape but it needs some help such as new ballasts to make it float.
While no vote was taken, the council’s general attitude seemed to be that the improvements should be done. Stewart said Bill Wisdom is already doing some volunteer work but more is needed.
City Manager Mark Skiles also said the Canute well tap which feeds water into Clinton Lake is about ready to be reopened.
Wednesday he explained to the Daily News that when the line was open it was feeding sand into the lake so tests were performed to determine which of the four Canute wells the city gets water from was the source of the sand.
Those tests were successful in identifying the well.
Asked if Canute would fix it, Skiles indicated he assumed so.
“They operated the wells while the tests were run,” he said. But he added, “Right now we’re getting 100 percent of our water from Clinton Lake.”