Winamac Police Department approved for vehicle purchase

The Winamac Police Department received approval from the town council to purchase a new vehicle for their fleet during a regular meeting on Jan. 12. Police chief Branson Eber informed the board he would like to purchase a 2026 Ford Police Interceptor for the police department. He said that this purchase would further allow the department to start a planned vehicle rotation, helping to reduce long-term maintenance costs and prevent reliability and safety issues associated with aging patrol cars. Eber said that his plan to have an every-other-year rotation will assist them in transitioning older vehicles out of the fleet. Chief Eber said that the department is currently relying on a 2017 Dodge Charger as the pool (or "spare") vehicle, which has become increasingly unreliable and costly to maintain. He added that if a new vehicle is added to their fleet, the 2024 Ford Police Interceptor currently assigned to Lieutenant Brett Funk would be reassigned as the pool car, providing a more reliable option and allowing the Dodge Charger to be removed from service and the fleet.