Sheriff adds 10 new SUVs to fleet of patrol vehicles

The first of 10 new Chevrolet Tahoe SUVs, which were purchased recently with discretionary funds by former Morgan County Sheriff Greg Bartlett, was placed on patrol Friday morning in the custody of Sgt. Chris Price. Others were being outfitted and expected to join the patrol fleet within 10 to 15 days.
The vehicles were bought from Lynn Layton Chevrolet at a cost of approximately$266,000.   They are equipped with police package engines and transmissions and have laptop computers and state-of-art law enforcement software.
Bartlett said he opted to use discretionary money to pay for the vehicles because the cars in his fleet were piling mileage and no new cars had been budgeted by the county commission for two consecutive years.
Earlier, he used discretionary money to buy approximately 10 news cars and pickups for investigators and drug task force personnel
“I wanted to make sure transportation for deputies and other personnel was taken care of before I left,” Bartlett said.
“SUVs are the vehicle of choice for a growing number of law enforcement personnel.
“They handle as well as full-size cars and they’re faster and have more storage space. The gas mileage is about the same.”
“I like the extra space and I think they’re going to accelerate faster and handle better than the Crown Victorias we’ve used for a long time”  Sergeant Price said.
Bartlett’s term of office ended at midnight Jan. 16 and he went to work as a regional sales representative for a firm that manufactures inmate phone systems.
Ana Franklin assumed the sheriff’s office Jan. 17.