WHAT WE HAVE TO CONSIDER WHEN SOMEONE REQUESTS 

A FREE VEHICLE APPEARANCE. 

AND WHY WE SOMETIMES HAVE TO SAY NO

Rest assured, it's nothing personal....

One of the most common requests we receive is for our cars to make an appearance. It's been our experience that people will go blocks out of their way to see an old car. When its a unique vehicle such as a police car, the draw can be even stronger. 

As such we tend to find ourselves inundated with vehicle appearance requests. 

So before you make a request, here are a few things we ask you to consider. Not only will it help you understand how we evaluate each request, it could also increase your chances of us making an appearance.  

Here are some of the challenges we face:

1. As a non-non profit, we must, by law, have a defined mission. Our mission is to protect, preserve and display the history of San Diego city law enforcement. If your request falls directly into that category, the odds increase we can approve your request.

2. The men and women who work for the San Diego Police Historical Association are volunteers. We have no paid staff. To a person, everyone has a full time job somewhere else. Many also have families. Trying to meet all of our obligations is exceptionally difficult and sometimes we just don't have the people available. 

3. We are not taxpayer supported. Every dollar we spend comes from donors to our association. As you might imagine, raising money from one entity so we can turn around and provide a free service to another entity, is a sensitive subject and all requests must be considered with that in mind.

4. Fuel prices are at an all time high. 

5. The average age of our vehicles is more than 40 years old. Some of our cars are almost double that. As such, keeping these cars in running condition is exceptionally expensive.  Even more challenging is finding parts and qualified mechanics to keep the cars road worthy. As with everything, the more they are used, the more TLC they require. 

6. Per mile charges can really add up. Each time we roll out a car it costs us at least $100 per car. Sometimes more if we break down.  We receive, on average, ten requests a month for appearances. If we attempted to meet every request we would easily be spending more than $1000 per month. 

What this all boils down to is this: While we would love to accommodate every request for an appearance, please understand that sometimes we cannot accommodate your request.  Thank you for your understanding. 

                        COMMERCIAL                 NON-PROFIT                 POLICE EMPLOYEE

1932 Ford AA        $1000.00                                    $500.00                                    $350.00

Fleet                      $750.00                                      $300.00                                    $250.00

Vehicle appearance rates are set to include at least one period uniformed officer. 

For static displays only, discount 25%. 

Docents $100 per person $75.00 per person

All rates are quoted at a four hour block. Time exceeding four hours shall be prorated in ten minute increments.