Plainfield Trustees OK Cop Car Purchase

Plainfield trustees on Monday approved a request from Plainfield Police Chief John Konopek to replace a police vehicle that was totaled in a crash last July.

Konopek said a squad car was totaled in a non-injury crash in which the other driver was cited for being at fault. Insurance paid out $12,554 for the squad, a 2008 Ford Escape.

The board signed off on the purchase of a 2013 Ford Focus to replace the vehicle, used by the department’s community service division, at a price of $15,271 from Rod Baker Ford.

The amount not covered by insurance, $2,717, will come from the department’s vehicle replacement fund, police said. That fund currently has a balance of more than $74,000, according to village documents.

The board also OK’ed the purchase of a $9,331.30 UHF radio repeater to replace out-of-date equipment for the Plainfield Emergency Management Agency.

The old radio is obsolete and cannot be modified to meet FCC standards, according to the request from Konopek, who is also director of PEMA.

Konopek said the UHF channels will offer additional options for communications between the police, fire, PEMA and public works departments.

The equipment expenditure is part of PEMA’s 2012-13 budget.