RICHMOND, Va. (AP) —
Three Southwest Virginia communities benefited from a one-time only grant program through the Department of Criminal Justice Services that provided one new 2013 Dodge Charger patrol car to each of six small rural law enforcement departments in the western and southern part of the state.
“We were pleased that we were selected out of the 55 departments that applied for the grant,” Sonya Ramsey, director of administration for Bland County, Va., said during a telephone interview from Staunton, Va. “It was only available to departments with 10 or fewer law enforcement officers. It saves us $30,000, so it means a lot to the county.”
Bland County was the only county that received one of the grants, but Cedar Bluff and Haysi, Va., also received patrol cars.
“Police Chief Dave Mills went up to Richmond this morning to pick our new patrol car up,” Jim McGlothlin, Cedar Bluff town manager said. “He submitted the grant, and we are just very pleased with it. It really helps. The budgets for local governments have been struggling with the economy the way it is now. Help like this is really appreciated.”
McGlothlin said there are four full-time and a few auxiliary officers in the Cedar Bluff police department. Bland County Sheriff Jerry Thompson says his office has 10 deputies, and added that the new patrol car should be ready to go into service early next week.
“My Chief Deputy Matthew Harman will get this patrol car,” Thompson said. “I haven’t been able to get the chief deputy a new vehicle since I took office in 2004. This unit is equipped with lights and a siren, and we’ll get the decals from the Mercer County Opportunity Workshop,” Thompson said.
Bland County Administrator Eric Workman also traveled to Richmond for the ceremony that included remarks by Marla Graff Decker, Virginia’s Secretary of Public Safety; Garth Wheeler, director of DCJS; and Col. Steve Flaherty, superintendent of the Virginia Department of State Police. The federal funds used to purchase the vehicles came from the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant Program. The Haley Automotive Group helped equip the vehicles for police use.
“We have trimmed down all of our operations costs and police cars are an expensive item,” Workman said. “The life of a police car isn’t as long as the life of a family car because of the changing conditions they work in, and we didn’t have any money in our budget for a new patrol car.”
In addition to Bland, Cedar Bluff and Haysi, other departments in Clinchco, Halifax and Stanley also received patrol cars through the grant program.
— Contact Bill Archer at barcher@bdtonline.com
Local News
Related Photos
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The Bland County Sheriff’s Office was one of six law enforcement agencies that got a new patrol car from the state Department of Criminal Justice Services. Shown here from left to right are: Sonya Ramsey, Bland director of administration, Bland County Sheriff Jerry Thompson and Bland County Administrator Eric Workman. Contributed photo
Discussion
October 27, 2012
Three police departments get new patrol cars through grant program
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