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Baldwin Police Department set to purchase two new units

St. Mary Parish Council approves funding
Getting Answers: Operations at the Baldwin Police Department
Posted at 11:47 AM, Sep 12, 2019
and last updated 2019-09-17 12:15:58-04

BALDWIN — The Town of Baldwin is in the process of buying two police units.

Last night, Mayor Abel Prejean requested $10,000 from St. Mary Parish Government to replace units and the council agreed.

Prejean said his police cars are not operable because they are in "such a state of disrepair." The Mayor said the town has tried to repair the police units, but they cannot keep up with the mechanical breakdowns.

The City of Houma has surplus vehicles and Prejean told KATC, "The cars are already outfitted. Once we get them, all we have to do is add the radios."

Prejean said once the Baldwin Police Department receives the new vehicles, they will look into selling roughly eight old units that are broken down.

Right now, Baldwin Police are using a pool unit from the St. Mary Parish Sheriff's Office.

"The Town of Baldwin is running on a strict budget," Prejean said. "We just don't have the tax base in town and an additional expense creates a problem for us."

In April, we reported on the budget issues at the Baldwin Police Department. You can read that story here.

Prejean hopes to get the new units in about a week.