8/1/2008 8:09:19 PM Author: newsAuthor
SCHERTZ — The $4 spike in the price of gas is putting a hurt on everybody, and it's no different for Guadalupe County — or, for that matter to Constable Travis Payne.
That's why Payne's two full-sized, V8-powered Ford Crown Victoria patrol cars are parked whenever possible.
About a year ago, Payne, whose job includes serving court documents around his precinct, decided he would go another route and tried an idea he and Commissioner Jim Wolverton, who share an office in the Schertz annex building on Elbel Road, had talked about a while: going to a smaller, more economical patrol car.
And so Payne went out and purchased a four-door Nissan Sentra and began horse-trading and sometimes just plain scrounging the radios, lights and myriad and sundry other doo-dads that turn a passenger car into a patrol car.
"What I did is took a lot of this stuff out of old cars," Payne explained. A light bar in the rear window of the car had to be cut down from one made for a full-sized sedan.
Maybe you've seen it around Schertz. Just maybe, it's even come by your home, carrying court or county documents.
One thing's for sure, the black car is difficult to miss with its large CONSTABLE logo, its LED "takedown" lights and its swooping gold stripes — all hand-installed by Payne himself.
"If anybody said he didn't notice this car he'd be lying," Payne said. "This is reflective tape and it glows bright orange at night. I bought this out of my own pocket and put it on myself."
Other lawmen have definitely noticed the car, and sometimes Payne says he takes a little good-natured ribbing over it.
"I've had them ask, 'Where's the rest of your car?'" Payne recalled. "I tell them I don't need no more car than this. Roy (Richard), our judge, is a pretty good-sized man, and he can get in there."
The Sentra's a bargain compared to Ford's police interceptor Crown Victorias now favored by law enforcement agencies. Equipped for police use, those cost about $31,000 and get roughly half the fuel mileage of the smaller sedan. Payne's Sentra cost less than $12,000 — enough of a savings so he could buy three of the smaller, lighter, more economical vehicles for the price of a single Crown Vic.
Of course, the Sentra's engine doesn't quite get the job done like Ford's 4.6 liter modular big-block V8, but it's fast enough for most work, Payne said.
"I do what I can to save gas," Payne said, showing the car he's been driving now for just about a year. "It's hit us hard. Our gas is up 100 percent. I get about 28-30 mpg in this car, though, and it's just broken in."
Payne's previous vehicle, a Ford Mustang, wasn't anything to turn your nose up at, but if the Sentra lacks a little in pure law enforcement muscle or gravitas, it more than makes up for it with its black paint job and its aggressive gold stripes.
"All it needs is tinted windows," a county building department employee said of the car.
"This little car works great for me," Payne said. "It's easier to get into and out of than the Mustang was."
There's also a surprising amount of room in the car — bearing in mind that it's a four-place vehicle.
As constable, Payne provides security for Precinct 3 Justice of the Peace Roy Richards' court, and serves papers for him.
But he also serves a patrol function, as many around the area during Payne's 17 years of service have learned over the years when caught speeding or running a stop sign.
"We do anything any other law enforcement agency does from drugs to domestic standbys," Payne said. "I got 277 pounds of marijuana once. And when one of (Sheriff) Arnold (Zwicke's) boys is out here by himself on a call, he can be happy to see another patrol car backing him, from any agency. If he's got a man in a bind, we're going to be there. Arnold's awfully good to us, and always has been."
While the Sentra works fine for what Payne uses it for, he said it would probably only work out in specific jobs in some other law enforcement agencies.
"It's a little different for the sheriff," Payne said. "He might have to take three prisoners up to Huntsville or something like that, and you're not going to do that in a Sentra."
Wolverton said he believed Payne had proved a point with the smaller car — and that there were probably places in the county where other vehicles in other roles might be downsized for better fuel economy.
"This guy's always finding ways to save money," Wolverton said of Payne. "This car serves its purpose, and it's worth looking into."
From:seguingazette.com
