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A program more than two years in the making to increase police visibility on Wheeling's streets and in the city's neighborhoods is nearly complete.
It was in June 2021 that City Council approved a plan that would see each of Wheeling's police officers be assigned a cruiser to not only drive for work, but to take home each evening. The program, estimated then at about $1.3 million as new cruisers needed to be purchased, has been implemented in phases over the past two years, with only about four of the department's more than 70 officers currently without their own cruiser. Those four officers remain in the process of becoming fully certified to join the police force.
Wheeling Police Chief Shawn Schwertfeger recently updated City Council on the program, noting it not only increases visibility but also reduces mileage and wear-and-tear on those vehicles.
Consider: a 2008 study from the International City/County Management Association found that take-home cruisers lasted at least twice as long as those that are "hot seated" -- meaning they always run.
That's how the city previously utilized much of its fleet -- a cruiser went from one officer to the next, and ran all day, every day until it needed replaced.
"At the end of the day, it saves money because of the warranty situation, plus there are many other benefits," Schwertfeger said when advocating for the program. "For example, when an officer takes his vehicle home, there's increased police visibility in the neighborhood, and there is increased response time to emergency incidents if that officer is called out."
This was a sound investment by city leaders that, going by the number of cruisers now seen daily on Wheeling's streets, appears to be paying off.