The Jefferson City Police Department and Cole County Sheriff's Department plan to take action over concerns carbon monoxide fumes from Ford Explorer patrol vehicles are seeping inside the SUVs, potentially sickening officers.
In an Associated Press story this week, Vermont State Police and several other departments in the Northeast announced they were inspecting their fleets or have installed carbon monoxide monitors in the vehicles. At least two departments in Texas and one in Massachusetts have gone further, pulling some or all their Ford Explorers off the road.
Ford Motor Co. has promised to repair the vehicles as it continues to investigate the cause of the problem.
In several cases, Ford found gaping holes had been drilled into the backs of Explorers after they were delivered to police departments. The holes were used to install equipment, such as additional radios. They weren't properly sealed, allowing carbon monoxide to enter the vehicle, she said.
"Lt. Deric Heislen is our fleet manager and has stayed on top of this concern from the very beginning," Jefferson City Police Chief Roger Schroeder said. "Vehicle modifications by the purchasing city/county/state, which resulted in fumes entering the passenger compartment, seem to be a reasonable explanation."
Ford officials said they have not found elevated levels of carbon monoxide in Explorers sold to the general public.
"There's a significant amount of specialized equipment installed in law enforcement vehicles, which would require extreme care in properly sealing the holes drilled to install that equipment," Schroeder said. "This might explain why there has not been a problem with vehicles sold to the general public. We're not drawing an absolute conclusion, however."
Schroeder and Cole County Sheriff John Wheeler said their departments were discussing their options, but they do plan to acquire some type of carbon monoxide detector(s) in the near future. Schroeder said the Jefferson City fleet is primarily made up of Ford vehicles. Wheeler said they do have several Ford vehicles at the sheriff's department, but there are also several other makes of vehicles in their fleet.
When asked if any of their officers had reported fumes in their vehicles, Wheeler said, "Not exactly. We are checking into one event that happened a while back. Probably no way to prove that this was what happened."
Missouri Highway Patrol officials said they were assessing their fleet as well.
"We have 450 Ford Explorers in our fleet, and we are aware of the problems that have been reported nationally," Patrol Lt. Paul Reinsch said. "To date, we have had no documented complaints from our troopers. We have been in contact with Ford and are closely monitoring our vehicles."