Getting things done
Nyssa police chief finds innovative ways to equip his department
By Larry Meyer
Argus Observer
Monday, February 18, 2008 10:41 AM PST
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| Nyssa Police Chief Lennie Elfering talks about his growing fleet of vehicles and help he has received from various police departments, as he stands next to a vehicle formerly used by St. Helens police. |
NYSSA — Nyssa Police Chief Lennie Elfering knows how to get things done.
The town’s top cop knows how to sniff out a good, cost-saving opportunity for his department, and he is also quite successful at the task.
Case in point: Elfering has managed to find key pieces of equipment — including cars — for the department and does so without spending a lot of money.
In fact, much of the new equipment Elfering has acquired for the department was free.
“I’ve never had a lot of money,” he said. “I know how to get done what I need to get done.”
Finding new vehicles for his department became a priority because Elfering wanted his policemen to be able to respond quickly to any emergency, especially if they are called out from home.
“I need them right away. I need them to go to work,” he said.
If they have a car they can take home, they don’t have to go down to the office and pick up a vehicle or wait for someone to pick them up, he said.
Yet Elfering did not boast a large sum of money in his budget for new cars.
So he went to the Internet.
Elfering said he put out a call for assistance on the Oregon police chiefs’ Web site and got a response he was not expecting — three patrol cars from two police departments, plus a lot of extra equipment.
The cars came with less than 100,000 miles on them, including the car used by the police chief of St. Helens, a 1995 Ford Crown Victoria.
“It looks like new,” Elfering said, adding it still had the radio and lights. The St. Helens Police Department also provided another vehicle it was surplusing out, as did the West Linn Police Department.
Elfering also gives kudos to Richard Bunn, of Sunray Towing and Recovery, for bringing back one of the vehicles. Bunn, who had to make a delivery to Vancouver, Wash., offered to bring one of the donated vehicles back. When Elfering said he didn’t have any money, Bunn said there would be no charge.
“These are things that help me get done what I need to get done,” Elfering said. He also said he received help from his former agency, the Parma Police Department, which is changing over from the Fords to Dodge Chargers. The Parma department sold Elfering’s office a Crown Victoria, which also came with equipment. Equipment the Nyssa department has received, he said, includes camera systems, radar units, overhead lights and cages for the rear seats.
A Nyssa police officer who picked up one of the cars from St. Helens was sent by that department to the company in Salem that equips vehicles for the St. Helens department. That company opened up its inventory of surplus equipment, such as gun racks and lights, and the officer filled up the trunk and back seat. There was no charge, Elfering said.
The Malheur County Sheriff’s Office has also donated overhead lights and other equipment, Elfering said. He said the St. Helens police chief has gone the extra mile for Nyssa.
“He doesn’t know us. He helps out the city with no questions,” Elfering said.
To buy a new car today and equip it costs about $32,000, Elfering said.
His only regret is there is not enough money to get them repainted.
Both the Malheur County Sheriff’s Office and the Oregon State Police have been invited to the use Nyssa Department office as a satellite base. The office, which contains an intoxilyzer, is open to all departments.
The intoxilyzer is frequently for alcohol testing during interrogations.
