The General Assembly directed the Program Evaluation Division to evaluate fleet management among major law enforcement agencies. This report focuses on the 2,398 law enforcement vehicles owned and operated by the Department of Public Safety (DPS). The management and oversight of law enforcement vehicles in DPS is fragmented, decentralized, and does not meet best practices. Furthermore, despite a directive to consolidate, DPS has yet to formalize a plan for centralized fleet management operations. The General Assembly should direct DPS to develop a plan and proposal for the implementation of a centralized fleet management program that meets best practice standards.
Subsequent Agency Actions:
- DPS currently operates approximately 8,000 vehicles, approximately 3,300 of which are rented from the Department of Administration (DOA). DPS has a fleet management program but it is unable to functionally consolidate because it lacks an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) tool through which to funnel all data from the seven to nine operating entities.
- DPS was allocated $9 million by the General Assembly in 2013 to create an ERP tool using SAP Software but was never authorized to use the funds. DPS then tried to collaborate with the Department of Transportation (DOT) to try and integrate with its SAP program, but DOT did not have the resources to accommodate DPS.
- DPS contends that due to the size of its motor fleet, its specific vehicle needs, and the fact that DOA controls the ownership and management of about 40% of its vehicles, a more common-sense approach to implementing a centralized motor fleet would be to establish a law enforcement central fleet. Currently, the State Highway Patrol manages its entire 2,500-vehicle fleet using SAP and could easily absorb the roughly 650 vehicles that make up State Capitol Police, Alcohol Law Enforcement, and the State Bureau of Investigation at a much lower cost than a department-wide centralized fleet.