BOSTON -- With the rising cost of gas, state, federal and local governments are trying to figure out how to squeeze more dollars out of their budgets to pay for their cars.

NewsCenter 5's Janet Wu reported that one exception is the city of Lawrence, one of the poorest cities in Massachusetts, which has a generous take home policy for city employees -- especially the police department.

Team 5 discovered that these cars get plenty of use outside of city business.

One Lawrence police captain lives four towns away -- more than 17 miles from work. But most mornings, he takes his daughter to school in his unmarked vehicle, often returning home afterward.

Another deputy chief leaves work on a Thursday evening and drives 24 miles to Salem to have dinner at Finz -- a popular tourist spot on the harbor -- again in his own unmarked police cruiser.

Team 5 followed dozens of officers over a two-month period as they ran personal errands -- going to the bank, buying lottery tickets, even meeting most mornings for breakfast with the police chief. Four to six unmarked cars were parked daily outside a McDonalds.

One police lieutenant left police headquarters in her unmarked cruiser an hour after her shift began, for the sole purpose of buying lottery tickets at a convenience store.

"It is a take-home cruiser. However, I do not use it to do any personal errands when I'm off duty," she said.

When told she had been observed at the convenience store before she said, "When I was working."

When asked if she was denying that she was doing a personal errand, the officer ignored the question and returned to her cruiser and drove off.

It wouldn't matter if she was on or off duty, however, because Lawrence Police Chief John Romero said there is no policy on what officers can do with their vehicles and nearly one fourth of the force has a take-home car -- most of them living outside of Lawrence.

"I need people getting to the scene as quickly as possible, not getting there after the fact," Romero said.

Some Lawrence officials said that the using the cars off duty is not only a waste of taxpayer dollars with the rising cost of gas, but could pose safety concerns.

When asked if it is appropriate to transport their children in a police vehicle, Lawrence City Councilor Nunzio DiMarca said no.

"Liability, and it is not conducting city business," he said.

Team 5 surveyed 10 other communities of similar size and or demographics and discovered that most of them allow only a handful of cars to be taken home and usually non-police personnel are banned from the vehicles.

"It's a liability to the city. If there was an accident, and there's a non-police personnel in the car," Quincy Police Chief Robert Crowley said.

When asked if it would be acceptable for personnel to take a car 22 miles away to have dinner in another city Crowley said, "Absolutely not." When asked if it would be OK to take children to school or to buy lottery tickets or a cup of coffee, Crowley again said no.

Asked why Quincy's policy was so restrictive, Crowley said, "We don't think the city of Quincy, the citizens of Quincy, should have to pay for the officers' gas if they are not on duty."

But Lawrence Mayor Michael Sullivan disagreed.

"When you're on call 24 hours a day, like we are in this city, you have to be able to do other personal things with that car," he said.

But police officers aren't the only ones taking unmarked vehicles home. Jay Jackson is in charge of vehicle and building maintenance for the department. He lives a mile from police headquarters, but drives outside of town on personal business -- with taxpayers footing the bill.

"What we've done in Lawrence has worked for Lawrence and has worked for the benefit for the people in the community," Romero said.

Romero bragged that crime is down 55 percent since he's taken office. He showed statistics that there have been only two murders in two years there and that residential burglary and auto theft are down for the year.

But in the first seven months of 2006, robberies were up, commercial burglaries were up, larcenies were up and aggravated assaults were up.

And what is this costing Lawrence taxpayers? In fiscal 2006, gas pumped by police at the city's DPW yard cost about $95,000. The city is only 7 square miles, yet more gas was purchased by police officers at commercial gas stations, where prices are even higher, suggesting they were not near the city center.

Yet the police chief and the mayor insisted that it is worth the expense, even if a deputy chief drives 24 miles one way just to have dinner.

"Deputy chiefs, as myself, we don't get paid overtime. We don't get time back. We simply are paid a salary. I wouldn't say it's a perk. It's an incentive," he said.

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