A Legislative Information Review of the Texas Department of Public Safety Page: 19 of 73
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- Commissioned employees view fewer individually-assigned vehicles as a loss
in overall compensation.
However, the Department has not demonstrated that current vehicle assignments to
supervisory and administrative personnel are overall more beneficial to the public than
increasing the use of vehicle pools.
The 75th Legislature addressed these two issues in the General Appropriations Act.
This new legislation allows no more than 60 exceptions to the prohibition related to
the use of a state car for personal use or for commuting to and from work. Also,
legislators recommended the Department reduce as many vehicles assigned to
commissioned officers commuting to and from work as possible within a reasonable
time. Other new legislation now allows the Department to purchase solid color
vehicles to benefit from the savings mentioned above.
Recommendation:
We recommend the Department maximize the efficient use of its fleet expenditures by:
- Purchasing solid color vehicles to reduce total vehicle costs.
- Reducing its overall fleet size and creating car pools from a portion of the
remaining fleet.
Management's Response:
For more than two decades, Appropriations Bill riders have provided in pertinent part
that no funds appropriated could be used to pay the salaries of DPS personnel
"operating motor vehicles used to stop and arrest offenders of highway speed laws
unless such vehicles are patrol vehicles of the standard black-and-white color....".
This rider has offered the choice of either purchasing black and white pursuit vehicles
or partially abdicating our highway traffic safety mission. At each legislative session,
DPS management has requested deletion of this rider. Prior to the 75th Session, this
request has been routinely declined.
The Department will carefully analyze all available options and act in accordance
with the best value for economy and functionality. However, any potential cost saving
created by purchasing solid color pursuit vehicles will be mitigated by the cost of
required law enforcement identification decals. Further, preparing decal equipped
pursuit vehicles for auction sale at the end of their useful lfe cycle may require
repainting in order to maximize partial recovery of the original purchase price. Long
range cost analysis of the available options will be acted upon as appropriate.
A LEGISLATIVE INFORMATION REVIEW OF
THE TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY AUGUST 1997PAGE 16
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Texas. Office of the State Auditor. A Legislative Information Review of the Texas Department of Public Safety, report, August 1997; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth517746/m1/19/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.