This is going to be unpopular ,but it needs to be said. As everyone knows our commission failed us and raised our taxes. lately we have seen the hype from a certain commissioner we are losing men to FHP, BS, FHP tops out at 41 grand, no city cop would go there. Secondly they need take home cars because they go to court from there house (see NPCC FB page) part of the existing budget deficit is because of the wasted money on the SWAT tank 400Grand and the 300 grand on the traffic cars amongst other wasted spending. So we all know it is rumored the PD wants an entirely new headquarters to be built near the post office, estimated at near 35-45 million dollars. Apparently they state the pink castle is to small. I thought the original idea was to add additions, but since they always get what they want, lets go for the new bldg. The idea of a motorcycle unit is still alive, no money but still alive. We all admit, life under the last admin was hell. No raises for years, poor working conditions and understaffed. NP is growing. We now have civilian aides and volunteers who handle the tedious duties, which frees the PD up to handle crime. NP is no Ft Myers nor do we want it to be, pay the PD equal to other PD's. Now the take home cars. NPPD jurisdiction ends at the city line, they have no authority outside the city. So I ask why I see cars in Sarasota, Port Charlotte, Ft Myers driveways. gyms etc. NPPD has what 150-200 vehicles in its fleet. The marked SUV's are expensive, the unmarked fleet is mostly leased. Both cost us lots and lots of money. There is no law which makes it mandatory to issue every officer his/hers own vehicle, its traditional and contractual.. That was fine when we had ten cars and were short officers so they had to respond from there homes, that no longer exists. Venice PD went to fleet cars years ago and that's working fine. So I ask just why cant the city stop the take home car policy and have assigned fleet cars, which simply is the cars stay at the station and are rotated in and out of service. With the number of new SUV's we have NPPD will not have to purchase vehs for five plus years. In addition some PD's repaint the old marked units and make the plainclothes utilize them, they are already fully equipped. This will save the taxpayers millions a year in unnecessary expenditures. Does having one of our cars in a driveway in Ft Myers or Sarasota stop crime, how does that benefit our city. Another idea is to allow only the officers living within the NP city limits to take home a car, this certainly would intise an officer to live where he works. When KV left, CM ran the dept and was given carte blanc, now we are paying for it. The dept has become demanding/spoiled and wants to be the best equipped in the state, that's fine. but at what cost. Because of the long standing feud between departments, The sheriffs dept in under utilized. Another suggestion would be the city purchase a paddy wagon prisoner transport van and utilize one civilian/officer to transport to the jail. All paperwork to be emailed to the jail, we certainly have the computer capabilities . As it stands now there could be two, three etc cars at the jail at once. out of the city out of service With the money saved in switching to fleet, this could be instituted and would certainly be cost effective. We cannot solve the problems by throwing money at it I thought the motto of the new administration was fiscal responsibility not fiscal irresponsibility