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Police Department Running Low on Fuel
Thursday, November 1, 2012 • 5:12pm
PATERSON, NJ – Paterson residents aren’t the only ones scrambling for gasoline. So is the city’s police department.
Officials said they are trying to negotiate emergency contracts to buy gasoline to get the city through the crisis.
“I need gas to keep the guys on the road,’’ said Police Director Glenn Brown.
But Mayor Jeffrey Jones said there’s no danger of the fleet of police cruisers going dry. “If we have to, we’ll siphon gas out of other (city) vehicles,’’ said Jones.
It’s not clear why the police department’s gas tanks are running on empty. City Purchasing Agent Harry Cevallos said Paterson’s motor pool depot received its regular delivery of gas within the past week. But that’s almost been depleted, officials said.
Cevallos said he tried contacting the city’s regular gas supplier, but its terminal in Newark is without power and so it cannot meet the city’s need.
Brown said the city’s fire trucks and its emergency medical units aren’t in the same predicament as the police cars because they use diesel gasoline, and there’s plenty of that available.
