ODESSA - The Odessa Police Department has been taking steps to kick off their take home program for patrol cars. On Friday, they finally saw the beginning of it all coming together.
OPD will soon be home to a fleet of new patrol cars. They received the first take home vehicle, a brand new 2015 Chevy Tahoe.
Last year, the City Council approved issuing a wave of new patrol cars for the police department.
Beginning next month, they will be given eight or nine of these patrol cars until every officer has one.
It's all to bring more police presence to neighborhoods. The officers will take the new marked vehicles home with them. Having them displayed in residential areas has proven to decrease crime in the community.
"Just expect to see patrol vehicles to start flooding the streets of Odessa because the more vehicles we have the less crime there is. It's something we're very excited about. This will benefit not just the police department but the public as well in several ways," said Steve LeSueur, Public Information Officer for OPD.
