OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- A city council member has come up with a plan he says would save the city thousands of dollars -- advertising on police cruisers.
City Councilman Garry Gernandt said by agreeing to plaster a logo on the hood, side or trunk of a $26,000 cruiser police car, Nebraska’s largest city could get it for free.
Gernandt, a retired police sergeant, said he got the notion from news accounts about a Florida town that recently signed a deal to get 15 free cruisers through a North Carolina marketing company.
Charlotte-based Government Acquisitions LLC finds businesses to pay for fully equipped police cruisers in exchange for three-year ads painted right on the cars.
The company tailors each contract to local law enforcement’s preferences -- from conservative mini-logos here and there to the full-body ads seen on race cars, said Ken Allison, managing partner of Government Acquisitions. Advertisements for alcohol, tobacco, firearms or gambling are prohibited, Allison said.
The company got its first police-car contract in May with Mooresville, N.C., a town of about 40,000 that bills itself as ‘‘Race City, U.S.A.” Three Florida cities -- Springfield, Dade City and Lake Wales -- signed on earlier this month.
Allison said at least 12 law enforcement agencies have signed contracts with the company, and hundreds have inquired, although no department has yet received its cars.
Gernandt said he hopes something similar could help Omaha bolster its police fleet.
The Omaha Police Department has 249 cruisers now, and 102 of them have collected more than 100,000 miles, police spokesman Sgt. Dan Cisar said.
To minimize maintenance costs, the department projects it needs to replace a third of its fleet -- about 83 cruisers -- each year.
Omaha’s 2003 budget includes money for just 10 new police cruisers.
Gernandt has asked the city’s legal department to investigate certain aspects of police advertising, such as how to fairly choose advertisers, avoid conflicts of interest and determine the size, number and type of ads.
He also is checking with other cities that advertise on city property.
“We’d have to be discreet, I suppose,” Gernandt told the Omaha World-Herald. “But I personally wouldn’t mind driving the Hooter car.”