It has been almost a year since the Lathrop Police Services motorcycle unit was involved in an accident that totaled the 2014 BMW police motorcycle used by the department. 

And now with the blessing of the Lathrop City Council, a new one is nearly on its way. 

But it won’t come free of charge. 

With a new price tag of $32,665 – and only $28,237 in insurance money coming in from the claim that was filed – the remaining $4,428 needed will come from money already budgeted from the 2016/17 Lathrop Police Services budget. 

Initially the motorcycle was thought to be repairable, and the insurance company contracted by the city paid out $6,125 to cover the cost of the necessary repair work. But after the motorcycle was torn down, a crack in the engine block was discovered that vehicle a total loss. The department has been without a motorcycle unit ever since. 

Cycle Specialties Inc. – a Modesto-based BMW dealer – initially provided the repair estimate, and will be the vendor for the new unit as well. 

The cost that was quoted for the new motor unit includes not only the motorcycle itself, but also the radar equipment and the decals requirement for deployment onto the streets. 

The decision on whether to spend the extra $4,428 necessary to replace the motorcycle wasn’t the only police-related item on Monday’s agenda. 

Also before the council was the decision on whether to extend the contract with the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Department to provide police services to the community for another year – giving the council the chance to decide after the current one-year contract is up whether they want to continue with yearly revisions, extend it for another multiple-year segment, or pursue other options for providing police protection. 

The council signed a five-year contract in 2011 that expired in June of last year, opting to go with a one-year extension over other discussed options which included leveraging Measure C sales-tax money to create the startup capital necessary to incorporate a city-funded department that has long been a theoretical discussion at the council level. 

Over the course of the next year Lathrop – which pays for the salaries of the deputies and senior staff in addition to the building, the equipment and the vehicles used as per the contract – will pay $7.4 million for police services, approximately $4.6 million of which will come from the general fund. 

To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.