JACKSON TWP. — When Hurricane Helene hit in late September, the storm did a lot of damage across the country. In Tennessee, a sheriff’s office lost some of its cruisers.
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As reported Tuesday on News Center 7 at 5:00, a local police department decided to donate one of its cars.
Police cruisers are used every day. Once they are considered out of commission, most departments will sell them and use the money to offset the costs of new ones.
News Center 7′s Mason Fletcher said the Jackson Township Police Department had an extra cruiser and they chose to go a different route.
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“So, anytime we can help out others, you know, that’s what we look to do as well,” said Chief Mark Brewer.
He told Fletcher it started with a simple Google search. He found a video of someone standing waist-deep in water talking about the severe flood damage in Newport, Tennessee.
“I reached out to the sheriff’s office locally there, and they advised me that there were 7 or 8 cruisers lost due to the flood,” said Brewer.
The Cocke County Sheriff’s Office told Brewer they were borrowing cruisers from nearby counties. He asked them if they would be interested in taking a cruiser as a donation.
“There was a little silence when he first talked to me on the phone,” Brewer told Fletcher. “And it kind of took him back a little bit and he said, you have no idea how ecstatic we are.”
The cruiser is a 2017 Charger with 120,000 miles. Cocke County uses them until it reaches 200,000 miles.
“They could probably run it for another two, three years,” said Brewer.
Chief Brewer traveled south to deliver the donation on Monday and got there around noon. He said it was the first time he saw the storm damage in person.
“I wouldn’t, you know, couldn’t comprehend the amount of devastation they had or being put in that spot,” he said.
Fletcher says Newport, Tennessee is nearly the size of Jackson Township where just over 6,000 people live in both locations. The Cocke County Sheriff’s Office is located there.
Brewer said his heart went out to help a town of similar size.
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