Two Tahoes approved by council for Hamilton PD

HAMILTON — Two different police department matters took up the majority of the Hamilton City Council’s Monday, June 16, meeting.
The council approved the purchase of two 2025 Chevrolet Tahoes for the Hamilton Police Department.  
The price for each unit is $49,900, with a combined purchase total of $99,800. The vehicles will be purchased from Donohoo Chevrolet in Fort Payne.
The cost to equip both of these vehicles is $36,760, bringing the total purchase and equipping price for both Tahoes to $136,560.
Hamilton Mayor Bob Page noted there is a lot of equipment needed to go with the vehicles.
Hamilton Police Chief Jordan Carter explained a lot of thought, research and networking among other departments, state and nationwide, had gone into the decision to continue purchasing Chevrolet police pursuit vehicles.
He explained the department had started purchasing two vehicles per year to rotate the older vehicles out during a previous administration of police chiefs and mayors, and chose to continue the procedure.
“We rotate the vehicles out to minimize wear and tear,” he said. “This is our 10th year doing that. Our officers are on the street 365 days a year.”
He noted the decision was not made lightly, but he felt it was in the city’s best interest to continue in the same direction as far as purchasing Chevrolet vehicles.
He noted using the same brand for the entire fleet provides benefits for maintenance, scheduling of maintenance, regular upkeep, activity logs and other necessities and equipment related to the police vehicles.
He also explained the Tahoes purchased were base models with two cloth seats and rubber floormats.
“They’re nothing special,” he said. “This is the basic of the basic in police pursuit vehicles.”