Manhattan Beach befriends Pickens, Mississippi
by Elka Worner and Blake Burrell The City of Manhattan Beach donated five police cars to a Mississippi town that had only one. “The people in my hometown are ecstatic. My police officers are ecstatic. We’re finally getting the things that we need,” said Paulette Moore, the mayor of Pickens, who attended Wednesday’s press conference at the Manhattan Beach Police Department. Moore said she’s always on the lookout for “resources” for her city which is in one of the poorest counties in the country. The town of 1,200, with an average income of $23,000, had only one police car for their seven officers. “It makes my heart hurt that half a dozen police officers were sharing a car,” Manhattan Beach Police Chief Rachel Johnson said. “The car is your office.” Manhattan Beach sold the three SUV’s, a Crown Victoria and Ford sedan to Pickens for $1 each. “Usually, we sell the cars to a used dealership or an auction house,” Manhattan Beach Mayor Richard Montgomery said. “Mayor Moore asked me if we wouldn’t mind donating them to her.” The mayors met in January at a conference in Washington, D.C. “No one’s ever done this before. We couldn’t find any other California cities who had donated police…
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