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In response to the controversy, the Danville Police Department will no longer raise the hoods on their patrol cars, Police Chief Philip Broadfoot told the Register & Bee on Monday afternoon.
The patrol cars have had a “continual heating issue” for some time, Broadfoot said.
As of publication, more than $16,000 has been spent on repairs of Danville police vehicles because of heat, according to Danville police Lt. Mike Wallace.
Certain “electrical parts in the engine” will melt when the heat rises in the summer, Wallace said, even though vents were installed on the hood of the cars to reduce the heat.
Broadfoot answered a question at a church forum on Sept. 9 about the raised hoods on city police cars.
“When (Broadfoot) addressed the question, a lot of people in the audience were concerned with his response,” said Ebony Guy, a community organizer and member of the Danville chapter of Virginia Organizing.
Guy said Virginia Organizing had already begun planning an initiative asking the City Council for more “transparency” on the issue of the raised hoods.
Snopes has even addressed the issue.