PROVIDENCE –– Police Chief Dean M. Esserman is defending the department’s policy that allows district commanders, high-ranking officers, and detectives in specialized investigations to take home their city-owned police vehicles.

On Friday, WPRI-TV Channel 12 reported that one of the police lieutenants who uses a take-home vehicle lives 80 miles away in Connecticut. The lieutenant was recently promoted as a commander in charge of one of the city’s nine police districts.

All of the district commanders, high-ranking police officials and some detectives and investigators have take-home police vehicles –– about 60 vehicles out of the 297-vehicle fleet.

Esserman said the take-home policy was in place when he was hired in 2003 and he sees no reason to change it. The idea behind the policy is that the rank brings round-the-clock responsibilities. The detectives involved in specialized work keep unusual hours and they need the vehicles for undercover work. The district commanders and high-ranking chiefs are expected to respond to their neighborhood meetings, public events and major crimes at all times.

“I don’t care how far they come. I just care that they get there,” Esserman said yesterday.

While a number of the top-ranking police officials live outside the city, Lt. Dean Isabella lives the farthest away –– with a commute to and from northern Connecticut. The Providence Police Department doesn’t have a residency requirement. “Where they live is their choice. That they come to work is mine,” Esserman said.

Other police departments have similar policies. In Warwick, for example, the chiefs, and officers in narcotics and special task forces have take-home vehicles –– about 10 or 12 police officials in a department of 177 officers.

That’s a smaller percentage than Providence, but Warwick Police Chief Stephen McCartney says that policing a city like Providence poses challenges not found in a suburban area. In Warwick, most of the crime and police calls can be handled by the on-duty contingent, he said. And, McCartney added, “This is a budget-conscious city. I’m always asked [by the City Council] ‘How many vehicles do you have?’ ”

McCartney, who is also president of the Rhode Island Police Chiefs Association, also supported the practice of take-home vehicles for the police. The police commanders are attending night and weekend meetings and responding at all hours to major crimes. The narcotics detectives and officers on the federal task force deal with informants and “live in an upside-down world,” not governed by a daily eight-hour shift, he said.

In Rhode Island, the state police are the only law-enforcement agency to have take-home vehicles for its entire contingent. The state police require troopers to live in Rhode Island.

Maj. Steven O’Donnell said the state police decided to allow all 213 troopers to take home their police vehicles after a cost-analysis study conducted several years ago found that it would be more efficient.

The vehicles suffer less wear and tear because they aren’t being used continuously by all the shifts, O’Donnell said. The state police have found that the troopers take better care of their assigned vehicles, and they are required to make sure their cars receive monthly maintenance, he said.

By having take-home police vehicles, the troopers are also on the job as soon as they leave their homes, which puts more troopers on the road during the shift-change hours, O’Donnell said. The policy is a practical matter –– the troopers are living all over Rhode Island, responding to barracks all over the state.

Maintenance and fuel costs are covered by the state for the state police, and by the cities for their own police departments. Officers are not allowed to use the vehicles for personal business.

Like O’Donnell, Esserman believes that the vehicles are better maintained by the officers who are assigned to them. He pointed to other police departments, such as Miami and Savannah, Ga., which allow all of their officers to take home their police vehicles and do not have residency requirements.

The Providence police have been working on other cost-saving measures. Three years ago, the Providence Police Department began phasing out the old Ford Crown Victorias in favor of Chevrolet Impalas because they were less expensive, more economical, and had front-wheel drive, the chief said. The department changed from using a fueling station on Allens Avenue to five Mobil gas stations throughout the city, where they get a discount on gas, so the officers don’t need to leave their districts to fuel up, said Deputy Chief Paul Kennedy.

amilkovi@projo.com