"We Need More Police"

That was the mantra emanating from the mouths of many during the last Dallas city election. Yeah, well buy them a good pair of walking shoes too because it has recently come to light that there is a shortage of operating police cars as well as a dearth of qualified mechanics to service them. Dallas has 700 patrol cars and as of 2 weeks ago 210 of them, or 30%, were out of service. Those that are running do so 24/7 and must be replaced every 100000 miles. The city has 240 of these replacement patrol cars — sitting in a parking lot waiting to be readied with computers and other necessities. Why? Because there are 39 vacancies in the 150-person fleet services department. They can't find enough qualified applicants (read: the pay is too low).
But the politicians did what they said they would do. And when election time rolls around again their platform will be, "We need more police." I'll ask if they'll finish the paragraph.