MEXICO – Police Chief Jim Theriault wants to patrol town from the seat of a pickup truck rather than from a police cruiser because a truck can also be used to haul confiscated marijuana plants.

It could also better tow the department’s all-terrain vehicle trailer, which was hauled this fall on pot-eradication operations by Mexico’s sport-utility cruiser.

Due to work, Theriault said he hasn’t been able to price any new trucks, a job that selectmen tasked him with at last week’s board meeting and then told him to return for more discussion.

“My (cruiser) is eight years old and when we got it in 2000, I told the board that we would keep it for four years and replace it,” Theriault said. “Now it’s getting old and tired and starting to cost us money.”

The cruiser has 62,000 miles on it. When asked at last Wednesday’s meeting why he couldn’t just put it back in rotation with the town’s other patrol cars, Theriault said that if he did that, the department’s five or six officers using it daily would more rapidly run up the mileage.

He told selectmen that he’s seen “good deals” on pickup trucks on television, where dealers are advertising pickup trucks with four-wheel drive for between $16,600 and $18,800.

The chief’s cruiser is scheduled for replacement by next summer. But rather than wait, Theriault pitched his idea to replace it earlier.