By Police1 Staff
AUSTIN, Texas — After more than eight officers have reported carbon monoxide incidents in their patrol cars in a week, the Austin Police Department is considering pulling Ford vehicles from their fleet.
Since the first exposure in March, the city has installed carbon monoxide detectors in all city Ford Explorers, KXAN reported. Sgt. Zachary LaHood has since filed a lawsuit against Ford Motor Company and Leif Johnson Ford for more than $1 million in damages, claiming he was poisoned by carbon monoxide while driving his patrol car.
Officers have been told to drive with their windows down to combat the carbon monoxide, KXAN reported. They have been advised to immediately exit their vehicle, call an ambulance and get blood drawn if the detector goes off.
The explorers make up 61 percent of the patrol fleet. At the moment, 40 Explorers are out of service because of carbon monoxide concerns. Four have been repaired and returned to the streets.
Assistant Chief Troy Gay said pulling the Fords would be a last resort, but the safety of officers comes first.
“Our number one concern is our front line patrol officers and responding to calls,” Gay said. “For the safety of our officers, if we need to pull these vehicles, we will. We are going to take proactive measures to make sure that our officers are safe. That is the number one concern.”
He told the news station that the police department has enough vehicles to switch the Explorers with unmarked pursuit-ready sedans. If necessary, officers will double up and be placed in non-utility vehicles together.
“What we’re looking at right now is identifying all the vehicles that we have in the fleet — both support and on the line — and figuring out without impacting our mission, how we can redistribute potentially these vehicles,” Gay said.
In a June statement to KHOU, Ford Motor Company said:
“We take the safety of our customers very seriously. In rare circumstances, there have been instances where customers detected an exhaust odor in Explorers and Police Interceptor Utilities. We have thoroughly investigated reports of exhaust odor and do not believe this odor condition poses a safety risk. If customers have a concern with their vehicles, they are encouraged to contact their local Ford dealership. In the case of Police Interceptors, odors can be caused by non-Ford modifications or repairs that were not properly sealed.”