San Luis Police Department faces delay in delivery of 13 new patrol vehicles

SAN LUIS, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - The automotive chip shortage is affecting the delivery of over 10 patrol vehicles for the San Luis Police Department (SLPD) and officers are having to over-extend the use of the cars they already have.

SLPD says the vehicles will help better serve the community, as they're already overused.

The city of San Luis authorized the purchase of seven new patrol vehicles for the police department in September.

But supply chain issues mean SLPD won’t see the new vehicles for some time.

Lieutenant Marco Santana says they are even still waiting for six vehicles that were purchased in the last fiscal year.

“Because we do have able and working vehicles, we do have it," said Santana. "It’s just that we eventually need to replace the ones that we have. There are patrol vehicles that are being driven constantly.”

Lt. Santana confirms not having these new patrol cars does not affect their response times, but says the overuse of the cars means things break down easier.

“It has to do a lot with the wear and tear, you know, how effective they are as vehicles itself. We’re trying to have cost-effective vehicles, but also, vehicles that are gonna be good for the officers, they’re gonna be reliable," said Santana.

These cars were purchased by the city for $570,000 dollars.

Lt. Santana says the new patrol cars will be similar to what they have now.

“We have a lot of ford explorer vehicles," said Santana. "We have some Ford F-150s and for the most part we’ve ordered F-150 trucks that we’re still waiting for them to get here.”

SLPD is expecting a total of 13 new patrol vehicles and seven should be delivered by July 2023.