COLUMBUS, Ind. – Earlier this week, the Columbus Board of Public Works and Safety approved the transfer of a decommissioned Columbus Police Department (CPD) patrol vehicle to a sheriff’s office in Kentucky that was affected by historic flooding earlier this summer.
A 2016 Ford Police Interceptor sedan that was recently taken out of service will be utilized by the Perry County Sheriff’s Office in Kentucky after one of their patrol vehicles was destroyed in the July flood. Perry County, Kentucky is located approximately 250 miles southeast of Columbus. At this time, the sheriff’s office has only three deputies and two patrol vehicles.
A City of Columbus employee learned of the need for assistance after speaking to an acquaintance with ties to
the flood-damaged community, per CPD’s Matt Harris. After learning of this, the CPD command staff reached out to Perry County Sheriff Joe Engle to ask if CPD could help.
“We are blessed to be able to assist a fellow law enforcement department in need. Fourteen years ago, floodwaters devastated our community and the effects can still be felt today,” said Columbus Chief of Police Michael Richardson. “Police departments from across the state came to Columbus and assisted our officers when we needed help. It is fitting that we were able to pay forward some of that generosity to another law enforcement agency that desperately needed assistance.”