If you're at the Howard County Circuit Court in Ellicott City and see a tiny, quiet vehicle cruising around, don't be alarmed. It's not a lost golfer.

Rather, it's the first electric car deployed by a sheriff's agency in the state of Maryland, according to Sgt. David Heck, a patrol sergeant with the Howard County Sheriff's Office.

The electric car, which is black and white, egg-shaped and has flashing lights on top, is also known as the E-Car. It was purchased with a Homeland Security grant in 2008.

Sheriff's deputies began using the car to patrol the courthouse buildings in January, Heck said. The car runs entirely on electricity and was part of an attempt by Sheriff James Fitzgerald to go "green," Heck said.

But the primary reason for buying the vehicle was to enhance security around the courthouse, Heck said.

The car is used to transport witnesses, crime victims, prosecutors and judges from their cars in the parking lot to the courthouse door, if they feel threatened or under unwelcome scrutiny, Heck said.

"Individuals sometimes have to walk the gauntlet, sometimes due to unwanted media attention," he said.

The vehicle, which is slightly larger than a golf cart, can carry four people. It cost $18,000, about $10,000 less than a regular patrol car, according to Deputy Mark Verderaime, a spokesman for the sheriff's office.

The electric car has a top speed of 25 miles per hour and runs for eight hours before it needs to be recharged. It is recharged every night at a building near the courthouse, according to Heck.

It is part of a fleet of 25 patrol cars in the Sheriff's Office, Verderaime said.

It sports Sheriff's Office insignia and drives exactly like a normal, automatic car, Heck said. Although it can not be used in snowstorms and other severely inclement weather, it is good for getting into the nooks and crannies of roadways around the courthouse, Heck said.

"With the electric car you can get in and around areas where in a regular patrol car it would be difficult," he said.

The car was recently used to transport prosecutors and a judge in the high-profile gangland slaying trial of Ronald McConnell, Heck said.

Verderaime said the car has lived up to expectations and the Sheriff's Office may be looking to buy more in the future.

"Obviously, we're very pleased how it's worked out so far," he said.

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user comments (2)

user dgminion says...

What a waste of federal dollars. Please tell me how this toy enhances "homeland security"? Or courthouse security for that matter? Wasteful spending in a trying economic times. Shameful.

Posted 3:22 PM, 04.30.09 | Permalink

user vince says...

Sheriff Fitzgerald is laying off 4 workers and here he is spending federal money on something that does nothing to enhance the security of the court house. Wasteful and irresponsible. What's next? Segways to traverse the halls of the Circuit Court Building? The physical laziness that this represents demonstrates the mental laziness that has been the hallmark of the Fitzgerald Administration.

Posted 7:53 PM, 04.30.09 | Permalink