A Magnolia alderman says the police chief’s vehicle is at risk of being impounded by the state because it is not properly marked.
After last week’s debate concerning unmarked city-owned vehicles, recently discovered documents reveal that aldermen never authorized the Police Chief Ray Reynolds’ Chevy Tahoe to be exempt from the state’s unmarked vehicles policy.
Alderman Joe Cornacchione said he sent an email to the mayor and to the police chief on Monday notifying them that the city has five days to place markings on the Chevy Tahoe.
The five-day deadline refers to a state law that mandates any government vehicle found to be in violation of the unmarked vehicle policy to be reported immediately to the department head responsible for the vehicle. “Five days shall be given for compliance; and if not complied with, such vehicles shall be impounded by the State Auditor,” the law reads.
Cornacchione said agents with the State Auditor’s Office have been notified of the matter.
City Attorney Wayne Dowdy furnished the Enterprise-Journal a copy of Section 25-1-87 of the state code, which mandates all government-owned vehicles to be properly marked, unless it qualifies for an exemption.
One of the exemptions is for police vehicles, but certain aspects must be met, and certain steps must be taken before a police department can use an unmarked vehicle.
The state law states, “...the governing authorities of any municipality may authorize the use of specified, unmarked police vehicles when identifying marks would hinder official criminal investigations by the police. The written request or the order or resolution authorizing such shall contain the manufacturer’s serial number, the state inventory number, where applicable, and shall set forth why the vehicle should be exempt from the provisions of this paragraph.”
The code goes on to state, “...the governing authority, as the case may be, shall enter its order or resolution on the minutes and shall furnish the State Department of Audit with a certified copy of its order or resolution for the use of the unmarked police vehicle.”
It seems the city did enact such an order, but that order is from 2003 — long before the city purchased the Tahoe for Reynolds.
On Dec. 6, aldermen voted 3-2 to require all city-owned vehicles be properly marked. Sharon Burton and Becky Magee cast the two negative votes. Lonnie Cox, Cornacchione and Mercedes Ricks voted in favor of the item.
Insisting that the police department’s vehicles were authorized to go unmarked and that marking them would be a waste of money, Mayor Melvin Harris said last week he planned to veto the board’s decision.
After the meeting, Cornacchione, who voted in favor of the measure, said no one had ever furnished a copy of the minutes with the order that the city supposedly passed.
When contacted last week, City Clerk Melissa Thornhill could not produce a copy of those minutes. She said they did exist in the city’s records but she could not recall where since the order was passed several years ago.
After searching through 10 years worth of city board records, an Enterprise-Journal reporter found only one set of minutes regarding an order for unmarked vehicles. It was from Dec. 5, 2003.
The minutes indicate that the board authorized three vehicles to go unmarked: a 2003 Ford Crown Victoria, a 2000 Ford Crown Victoria and a 1994 Ford Crown Victoria. The order listed each vehicle’s identification number, or VIN, and stated they shall require no markings due to the “nature of the police work” for which they would be used.
Since the Chevy Tahoe does not appear listed on the order, the mayor and board of alderman will likely have to hold another meeting to authorize it as an unmarked vehicle.
When contacted Tuesday, Harris said he’ll look through city hall’s records to confirm the newspaper’s findings.
Thornhill said Wednesday morning that the 2003 order is indeed the only one on record. She said she was under the impression that the city could swap out vehicles without having each specific vehicle identified as unmarked.
