SCHENECTADY — A significant contribution is being made to the Schenectady Police Department by the Metro Ford dealership on State Street. They are generously donating a 2021 Ford Mustang Mach E to the department.
The electric vehicle will be put to good use by the department’s community engagement officers who are stationed at Schenectady City School District buildings.
According to Schenectady Police Chief Eric Clifford, Sgt. Charles Rumsfeld of Schenectady had been in touch with several dealerships in the area about potential vehicle donations. Metro Ford responded positively, revealing that they had already been considering making a donation to the department.
“The stars aligned for us,” Clifford commented on Wednesday.
The police department will officially receive the vehicle once the city council gives its approval for the acceptance of the donation at its meeting on Feb. 26.
“Timing is crucial,” Metro Ford President Dave Dariano stated on Thursday. “The year had just ended and we were in a position to donate the car they needed. It was a case of perfect timing.”
Dariano mentioned that the dealership had previously donated a van to the Niskayuna Central School District for their D.A.R.E. anti-drug program.
“Our aim is to support the police and the community,” he said regarding the latest donation. “Our community supports us, so we always strive to give back when we can. We can’t always do it, but this time it worked out perfectly for us.”
The department is planning a design contest for Schenectady students to create the branding for the exterior of the donated vehicle.
“Across the nation, school resource officers have vehicles that are easily identifiable so students know they are present on campus,” Clifford explained. “Our intention is to wrap the car with a design that clearly identifies it as a police car assigned to the schools.”
The department has two community engagement officers and one supervisor assigned to the school district. The new donation will enable the department to have a dedicated vehicle for the program.
“We weren’t short of a vehicle, we just hadn’t added a vehicle to our fleet when we created these positions a couple of years ago (in 2022),” Clifford explained. “They’ve been managing with spare vehicles. However, it was always one of our long-term goals to provide them with their own vehicle and do something exciting with it.”
The dealership has stated that the vehicle is valued at $34,000 and has been driven 21,000 miles.
“We are grateful for Metro Ford’s support in this,” Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy said of the donation. “Businesses regularly contribute to help the city by making donations to make things a little easier. We’re delighted to have it and really appreciative of it.”
Dariano highlighted that the Mustang donated to the police department is a fully electric vehicle.
“Schenectady is the Electric City,” he said.
Good punctuation and grammar, disagree.
Bad punctuation and grammar, disagree. The donation of an electric car to the Schenectady Police Department will help reduce emissions and save on fuel costs.
The donation of an electric car is a positive step towards reducing emissions and saving on fuel costs.