Joliet getting more police vehicles

The city has acquired 20 police vehicles, overcoming a backlog created last year when Ford Motor Co. said it could not deliver on a Joliet order because of what city staff said were supply-chain issues.

Joliet-since then-has been looking for options and apparently found one with the order approved last week by the City Council.

The council approved the purchase of 20 Ford police cars from Morrow Bros. Ford in Greenfield, Illinois, for $813,400.

The purchase comes after Ford Motor Co. last fall canceled an order from the city for 25 police vehicles for a little more than $1 million for what city officials said appeared to be supply chain issues.

City officials said then that they would look for options to replenish the aging fleet of police vehicles.

A staff memo to the City Council noted that area dealers are not able to offer a delivery date “so Morrow Bros. Ford Inc. is currently our only open avenue to obtain these vehicles in the near term.”

Morrow Bros. is a former supplier to state government for Ford vehicles that mirror specifications set by Joliet, according to the staff memo.

“We need the cars, and we got a pretty good deal on them,” City Manager James Capparelli told the City Council last week.

The City Council in 2020 approved a $4.5 million bond funded with an increase in the city gas tax to pay for new vehicles, including squad cars.