SRCSO: GM recall affects 59 patrol cars

SANTA ROSA COUNTY, Fla. (WALA) - The Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office will be affected by a General Motors recall of more than 38,000 Chevrolet Impala police cars.

When you lose one-sixth of anything it hurts, at least a little bit.  That's the dent left in the SRCSO patrol fleet, as 59 Chevrolet Impalas have been recalled to the shop.

"It's not uncommon for us to get vehicle recalls," said Sergeant Scott Haines, a spokesman for the sheriff's office.  "We do purchase large amounts of vehicles for our fleet.  We were notified of the recall on law enforcement police package, Impalas, and some of us were affected by that recall.  So we're going to have to get that taken care of."

General Motors wants the cars back to make changes to the front suspension, which they said could fracture and cause a crash. 

But this won't apply to you Chevy enthusiasts at home. GM said the recall is only for the 2008 to 2012 Impala police models, and it’s making officer safety paramount.

"Other recalls have been officer safety issues, too.  When recalls occur, it's out of caution.  They have had no wrecks associated with this issue yet.  They're doing it preemptively to deal with an issue that could possibly cause a wreck," Haines said.

Haines said not all of the Impalas will be taken out of commission immediately, but rather rotated into the shop as they see fit.  But folks can continue to expect to see the same sheriff's office presence patrolling the streets.

"They're definitely not going to see decreased patrols," Haines said.  "We have spare vehicles, so when we put a couple in the shop to get taken of, those deputies will be issued spare vehicles and they'll drive those.  This is going to in no way affect our coverage, our patrol, deputies being without vehicles, anything like that."

Haines expects the individual vehicles to be off the road for only a day or two, and then it’s back to normal for the sheriff's office.

Other northwest Florida law enforcement agencies that could be impacted by the recall: Pensacola Police Department, Escambia County Sheriff's Office, Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office.