Recently, a reader called to complain that she had seen a Lincoln County Sheriff's deputy drop his kids at school in a patrol car, and wondered who's paying for the gas.

It's a contentious issue taxpayers struggle with, whether they're in Wiscasset, Lafayette, Ind., Orange County, Calif. or Truth and Consequences, N.M. Should police officers be using patrol cars for personal business?

Across the country, it is normal for sheriff's departments to allow deputies to take their cars home, especially in rural areas like Lincoln County. All 15 Lincoln County full time deputies and detectives drive a county car, used exclusively by them, which they take home at the end of the day. Deputies work four 10 hour shifts, then are off for three days. Officers record their mileage on all gas receipts and their daily log books, so fudging their mileage would be tricky, and the risk of possible disciplinary action too great for most to consider it.

The car is not to be used as an extra family car, but can be used for personal errands if the officer is on duty and in their patrol area. If a deputy's son is in a Little League game, and the game is in the deputy's patrol area on a day when the deputy is on duty, Sheriff Todd Brackett thinks that's a good thing.

"We encourage the deputies to be a visible part of the community when on duty, and making an appearance at events like that is good for the community," he said.

"Our deputies are on duty the minute they leave their driveway. They don't have to come to Wiscasset to start their patrols. And, when an emergency like the Washburn & Doughty fire occurs, we alert off duty officers, and they can respond very quickly. If they had to drive to Wiscasset to pick up a car, our response time would suffer."

"Police Fleet Magazine" has addressed the issue multiple times, and cites the experience of police departments across the country with both "exclusive use" and "shared" patrol cars. A recent article pointed out that "the real question is whether it is better for the residents of the county if each deputy has his own car and keeps it at home when off duty." Deputies like the idea, because they can organize their equipment, forms, and paperwork in a way that it's quickly available to them. When a car "belongs" to them, they tend to maintain it better, and it lasts longer." Neighbors like having a patrol car in the neighborhood too. Not only is it a possible deterrent to crime, it's also a beacon for people needing help in a hurry.

At budget time, the debate in many sheriffs' minds is likely to be: is it best to invest budget money in more cars or more officers? If deputies share cars, fewer are needed and a fully equipped patrol car with radio, mobile computer, emergency lights, sirens and other special equipment carries about a $30,000 price tag. If two deputies share a car on different shifts, the car budget can be stretched, but each car will rack up mileage twice as fast and need to be replaced earlier.

And different officers may require different equipment because of the nature of their patrol area, so having officers share a car on different shifts might not be as simple as it seems. Today, deputies living in Jefferson start a shift in their patrol area when they leave their own driveway. If they have to pick up the car from another officer on an earlier shift, their shift would start when they got in the car, but they might have to drive 20 or 30 miles before entering their patrol area.

There is also a police morale factor to deputies having their own county cars. A patrol car is a deputy's "tool box." Mechanics, carpenters, plumbers and electricians know what it's like to share their tool boxes with others. Sometimes it works. Sometimes. Most times it doesn't.

Studies on the issue generally support the idea of take home cars for deputies, because of better morale, lower operating costs, more efficient use of officers' time, and patrol cars being geographically spread out. So, the next time you see a patrol car dropping off some kids at school, you may want to remember that this kind of visibility and connection of an officer with their community may be part of the reason Lincoln County's crime rate is so low.