The New Albany Police Department rescinded a policy eliminating take-home patrol cars for officers who live outside Floyd County on Wednesday after an arbitrator ruled the policy was unfair.
Police Chief Todd Bailey implemented the policy July 14 in an effort to save on fuel and maintenance costs. In announcing the policy in June, Bailey noted that his department had spent more than three- quarters of its annual fuel budget in the first half of the year.
The policy affected 22 members of the 64-member police force.
While he complied with the arbitrator's order, Bailey said in an interview Wednesday that "we will have to revisit this" to solve the continuing financial crunch.
John Hall, vice president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 99, which filed a grievance against the take-home car policy, said he was "happy the issue's been resolved" so that he and fellow officers can focus on law enforcement.
The FOP grievance claimed the new policy discriminated between officers living inside and outside the county.
The union pointed to a provision in its collective-bargaining agreement that requires the city to ensure "equality for all members employed by the police department in all
phases of the employment process," according to documents cited by arbitrator Stephen Frockt.
Bailey cited another provision of the agreement during the arbitration process that gives him "the right to make major changes in working conditions and to change past practice without approval and/or consent of the FOP."