Marge Gammell with the Moore County Sheriff's Office receives the keys to a 2005 Chevy Impala by Brentwood PD Fleet Manager David Gossett on Thursday.

State's cash-strapped police, sheriff departments benefit
By SUSAN LEATHERS
Brentwood Home Page
By next week, a Moore County Sheriff's Deputy will proudly be driving a "new" white and green Chevy Impala patrol vehicle emblazoned with his department's name and seal. On Thursday, the 2005 sedan still sported the familiar look of the blue and gray Brentwood  police cars so many people here hope to avoid.

Moore County and six other small police and sheriff departments around the state now have or will soon take delivery of "new" police vehicles, thanks to the Brentwood Police Department and the City of Brentwood. The City Commission recently approved the donation of vehicles taken out of service locally. Or the past few weeks representatives of those departments have traveled to Brentwood to pick up their new wheels.

The program, which began several years ago, provides the vehicles to other law enforcement agencies with limited budgets to purchase new ones.

“We are always happy to assist other local law enforcement agencies when possible,” Brentwood Police spokesman Capt. Tommy Walsh explained. “It is very rewarding to see the appreciation from the personnel who pick up the surplus cars and to see photos after they have been put into use.”

"Anytime we get a newer car, it's wonderful," Margie Gammill, secretary to Moore County Sheriff Mark Logan, from her Lynchburg, Tenn. office Thursday afternoon. The department, with 12 deputies, serves the rural county wtih 6,100 residents.

"We have a lot of milage to put on cars," Gimmell said, who added donations such as the car she picked up yesterday morning are always appreciated. In fact, "they've already started striping the name off" and it will be back on the road as soon as it receives its new paint job.

Gimmelll said each deputy plus the sheriff have a car -- and that already there's been some josseling to see who gets the Impala.

Also benefitting from the giveaway are the Humbolt Police Department, Gibson County;  Lewis County Sheriff's Department, Lewis County; Gibson Police Department, Gibson County; Gibson County Sheriff's Department, Gibson County; Monterey Police Department, Putnam County; and the Baxter Police Department, Putnam County.

The cars are donated “as is” with no warranty to departments who have not previously received assistance from the city. The donations help solve another issue as well. For security reasons, the sale of formerly marked vehicles into the private market has been discouraged.

“Rather than selling the vehicles for a small amount of money and running the risk of misuse, we prefer to donate the vehicles to other law enforcement agencies,” Walsh said. “Most of the agencies who receive a vehicle have limited budgets and are using patrol vehicles with extremely high mileage.” The effort has also created a lot of goodwill for the City of Brentwood across the state.

The cars, Chevrolet Impala and Ford Crown Victoria models built from 1999 to 2005, all had at least 60,000 miles.

“We appreciate our City Manager and the City Commission for their support in allowing us to continue with this program,” Walsh said.