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Electric co-op donates to Remington police
The Remington Police Department just got an early Christmas present.
According to Chief Tom Beecherl, a representative from the Old Dominion Electric Cooperative, which has a plant near town, presented his department with a donation of $3,800 on Friday. The money will be used for equipment and training.
“Old Dominion approached us about a month ago and asked us what our needs are,” Beecherl said. “We deeply appreciate their generosity. “Since we’re just a part-time department, all the guys buy their own equipment,” he added.
The department is currently staffed by Beecherl and six officers. Fauquier County does not provide any funding for the department. Instead, the town pays the officers’ salaries, but they don’t get any benefits since they’re not full-time employees. The department’s budget for the current fiscal year is approximately $74,000.
Al Morgan, manager of ODEC’s Marsh Run Power Station, said the company is happy to contribute just a little bit more.
“ODEC has a certain amount of money put aside in its budget for the communities in which we live and work,” Morgan said. “We like to give back and in these bad economic times, everyone can use some help.”
In addition to money from the town and individual contributions, Beecherl said his department gets grant money from the state for specific projects and activities. Unfortunately, the state’s fiscal crisis will likely make such funding harder to come by, he added.
As that happens, larger law enforcement agencies will face the same dilemma. Like the Remington Police Department, Maj. Paul Mercer said, the Fauquier County Sheriff’s Office applies for grants as alternative funding sources to meet its needs when the opportunities arise.
“We occasionally receive donations from private citizens, but we do not actively solicit them,” Mercer added.
E-mail the reporter: abogdanovic@timespapers.com
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