Nearly a quarter of D.C. police cruisers should be removed from the street and replaced, based on the District's maintenance standards, reports the Washington Examiner.
Police spokesperson Gwendolyn Crump told the Examiner in an email that 336 vehicles are being operated past the "preferred replacement cycle."
Those vehicles have exceeded the department's guidelines that cars be replaced after five years or 100,000 miles.
Police Chief Cathy Lanier wrote to D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson last year, saying half the cruiser fleet exceeds the replacement criteria. She said cars were breaking down and requiring downtime for maintenance.
Mendelson says the city has to catch up from cuts under Mayor Adrian Fenty.
"What we discovered last year when we asked the question was that under the Fenty administration was that they deliberately changed the standard for replacement to cut costs," Mendelson told the Examiner.
Last week, Mayor Vincent Gray proposed $7.2 million in his budget for police vehicles.
