CASH-STRAPPED PUBLIC SAFETY AGENCIES TURNING TO RIDESHARING SERVICES TO RESPOND TO CALLS

An unidentified Uber driver and police officer
Buck Puddles transport Fidget Zink to jail. Zink
was arrested for public intoxication and performing
naughty acts with a Karaoke microphone

Ridesharing services like Lyft and Uber are growing in popularity, and much of their new business is coming from cash-strapped public safety agencies that can no longer afford to purchase and operate fire engines or a fleet of police patrol cars.

“It’s been a godsend for us,” said police chief Lupe Lou Ferrigamo-Siegenthaller, whose nameplate extends four inches past the side of her uniform shirt and scrapes the wall as we walk down the hallway of her precinct. “We were spending 60-thousand a year just to keep our old Crown Vics running, but now we don’t have to pay for maintenance or gas. Plus, we don’t have to clean up the mess after a drunk vomits on the seat. We’re very pleased.”