Video: Detroit Pays $65K To Lease 2004 Police Car
The Detroit Police Department has been wildly overpaying for their unmarked undercover and surveillance cars—a mistake one expert estimates caused $4 million in waste.

The Detroit Police Department has been wildly overpaying for their unmarked undercover and surveillance cars—a mistake one expert estimates caused $4 million in waste, a WXYZ investigation found.
The department has been paying $600 or more in some cases to lease unmarked police cars. In one case, the department has been paying $608 to lease a 2004 Dodge Intrepid.
The high payments resulted because the department didn't return the vehicles before the expiration of the two-year leases. The department now has 110 cars on the road with expired leases of up to six years. The department has also been shouldering maintenance costs on the cars and paying a mileage overage cost of 15 cents per mile for fuel that kicks in once the cars cross the 60,000 miles permitted in the lease.
Read the full WXYZ report.
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