Police Commissioner Denies Reports of Parked Patrol Car

Did a lack of access to fuel keep a police mobile parked for days at the Raccoon Street Police Station? Last week, reports surfaced that a police mobile was unable to be used for patrols after its quota of two-hundred-and-fifty gallons for the month had been depleted. The reports came amidst an increase in police patrols geared at deterring crime and increasing citizen security. On Friday, the Commissioner of Police Chester Williams was asked to weigh in on the report, and while he denied the occurrence, he did note that the department’s fuel budget has increased significantly.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police: “Our budget for 2024-2025 fiscal year increased tremendously compared to last year. And certainly, yes, our fuel allocation has also increased. We do have an issue in the North right now, yes, because of the fact that we had the Northern operations that is consuming a lot of fuel because of the fact that the police officers need to move around the irregular border crossing area. And even though we have the issue with the Northern ops we still don’t have a shortage of fuel in terms of money. The Prime Minister has advised us how we can make this work, where we are applying for advance dereservation of funds that would have been used at the end of the year we just bring that up and then later in the year they’re going to do a supplementary budget so we can cover the costs that will be the shortfall later this year. So in terms of making sure that we have the resources not just in fuel but otherwise the Prime Minister has advised us how to do it and that is working. So I don’t see why any vehicle should be parked because of not having fuel. Yes ensure that there is proper regularization of the fuel allocation for vehicles, vehicles are given a quota per month and sometimes the quota is depleted before the month comes to an end. What the OC needs to do is send a, it could be a simple text to me or a letter stating that our fuel allocation for the month is about to be depleted, kindly assign additional fuel and then the additional fuel is assigned to the vehicle. So there should be no police vehicle parked due to not having fuel. If police officers are saying that then they are being mischievous.”

Minister of Home Affairs Kareem Musa also confirmed that the police have seen an increase in its use of fuel.