$39,000 for stop sign running and driving in circles?

Some news from the Sun-Sentinel-

MIRAMAR · The 16 volunteer drivers who belong to the Citizens on Patrol program will no longer have to share one city vehicle.

The city agreed to buy two additional Ford Escapes, at a cost of $39,000, using state Law Enforcement Forfeiture Funds.

The trained volunteers conduct regularly scheduled patrols so they can report suspicious activity.

Called the eyes and the ears of the Police Department, "our motto is no confrontation," said Bruce Johnston, a citizen patrol member who helped launch the program two years ago. "We observe and report only."

The staff is made up of all volunteers who take turns patrolling various pockets of Miramar about four hours a week.

Some of their duties include surveying supermarket parking lots and gas stations, helping to locate missing persons and directing traffic at accident scenes.

Maybe Miramar(which is in Broward County and is where my sister-in-law lives) is different but from my experience Community patrols in Palm Beach County are pretty worthless. Here in Lantana I've either been told they have no means of radioing or calling for help, or seen the cars and their drivers disobey the traffic rules. That makes the expenditure of any money, $1, $39,000 or more on these cars just a waste of taxpayer money.

Then maybe Miramar is different. Can any TFM readers from Broward relate their experiences with local community patrols?

Linked to- Blue Star, Bright & Early, Pirate's Cove,