BRADY FLANIGANStaff Writer

After an August police chase across Coffee County resulted in a 2021 Dodge Durango belonging to the Tullahoma Police Department (TPD) being totaled, the city has been forced to replace the vehicle.

At the Sept. 23 Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting, the city approved the sale of the damaged vehicle to the Manchester Police Department for parts, at a sum of $2,500. In its place, the city will be purchasing two 2025 Ford Interceptor SUVs, which will be outfitted with emergency equipment by Lonnie Cobb Ford of Henderson, Tenn., through the Tennessee state contract #209, at a cost of $113,576.

This decision is part of TPD’s broader, long-term strategy to surplus and replace four police vehicles annually. City Administrator Jason Quick explained, “The expectation is for us to be back on a schedule where we will purchase four new police cars every year, and so at the end of the rotation, that will give us a life of about eight years. This is two of the four we’ll be asking for this year, so we wanted to go ahead and get approval for this while they’re in stock and get those on our lot.”

The city currently operates 32 patrol cars. Following the motion, which passed 7-0, the board quickly approved a subsequent motion to accept a Tennessee Highway Safety Grant awarded to TPD in the amount of $34,400, with no local match required.