STAR-BULLETIN / 2001
The police department plans to give its fleet of Go-4 scooters to the city for other departments or put them up for sale.
The Honolulu Police Department's three-wheeled Go-4 scooters will be gone for good at the end of the month. HPD dumps
3-wheeled scootersDangerousness, high cost of
replacement parts and lack
of security are citedBy Nelson Daranciang
ndaranciang@starbulletin.comThe department's fleet will be given to the city for use by other departments or put up for sale after being taken out of service, police said.
Honolulu Police Chief Lee Donohue ordered the vehicles taken off the road in May 2001 to repair a mechanical defect following an accident that injured an officer. Only 43 of the department's fleet of 81 Go-4s were returned to service after a faulty suspension part was replaced.
They are used in downtown Honolulu and Waikiki, said Jean Motoyama, Honolulu Police Department spokeswoman.
"The other districts stopped using them a little over a year ago because of a mechanical problem," she said. "They took them off and never put them back into service."
Patrol officers in Wahiawa and Kaneohe had also used the Go-4s.
HPD purchased the Canadian-made Go-4s in 1993 to replace Cushmans, which have three-cylinder engines and four wheels. The Go-4s have more powerful four-cylinder engines but three wheels.
The Go-4s cost between $22,000 and $24,000 each and are made by Canadian company Westward Industries Ltd., based in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba.
HPD decided to stop using the Go-4s for various reasons, including dangerousness, high cost of replacement parts, and its lack of security for laptop computers that HPD plans to install in all of its vehicles, Motoyama said.
The Go-4s cannot be used in pursuits, to respond to calls on freeways or to transport prisoners, police said. They are also top-heavy and prone to turnovers, according to police.
The decision will save the department in salaries since officers who volunteer to drive the three-wheeled vehicles qualify for hazardous duty pay of 20 percent of their base salary, police said. Solo bike officers receive 25 percent hazardous duty pay, and parking enforcement personnel who drive Go-4s and Cushmans receive 15 percent hazardous duty pay.
The department plans to purchase 50 new sedans next fiscal year. In the meantime, officers will no longer be allowed to take patrol cars home.
Some districts began phasing out the Take Home Car program last year. As officers were promoted or transferred, their cars were not reassigned, Motoyama said.