Fruitland police get donation
Local businessman hands over $500 for area public safety agency
By JESSICA KELLER
ARGUS OBSERVER
Thursday, August 7, 2008 10:20 AM PDT
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| Bob Baumgardner (left), Turf Master Sprinklers, Ontario, receives a letter of appreciation for his business's $500 donation to the Fruitland Police Department reserve officers from FPD Reserves Sgt. Eric Christensen last week in City Council chambers. The donation will go toward additional classes for the reserve officers and equipment. |
FRUITLAND — The Fruitland Police Department Reserve officers received a bit of additional help from a local businessman in the form of a donation last week.
Bob Baumgardner, Turf Master Sprinklers, Ontario, presented a check for $500 to FPD Capt. J.D. Huff and FPD Reserves Sgt. Eric Christensen as part of his firm’s mission to support local public safety agencies.
“I’ve selected certain communities to donate to public safety programs and help assist with the community safety,” Baumgardner said.
The $500 is welcome and needed for the Fruitland Police Reserve Officer program.
“Five hundred dollars is a pretty sizeable donation to a nonprofit that’s pretty much funded by its own fundraisers,” Huff said.
The donation will go primarily to additional training for the department’s five reserve officers, but some may go toward equipment, which is largely funded by the officers themselves.
“It’s a big help,” Christensen said of the donation. “It’s hard for the guys to take money away from our families to come volunteer somewhere.”
While the city pays for some of the work put in, most of the reserve officers’ work is volunteer. In addition, many times the budget won’t sustain additional training classes for the reserve officers, which makes a donation especially helpful.
“It gives us a chance to go to classes that we don’t normally get to,” Christensen said.
Reserve officers have the majority of general police powers, and can make arrests, Huff explained, although their training differs from career police officers.
Reserve officers have to put in at least 120 hours a year to maintain their certification. When on the job in Fruitland, the reserve officers fill a crucial role for the department by supplying additional manpower, filling in for sick or vacationing police officers or providing extra patrol when needed.
