Manhattan Beach delivers old police cars to Mississippi town for a $1 a piece

Police cars from Manhattan Beach are getting a new life in Mississippi where officers have been patrolling their thousand-person town with a single car. 

With a population of about 1,300 people and a median income of around $20,000, resources are hard to come by in Pickens, Miss. 

"We live in Holmes County," said Mayor Paulette Moore. "Our county is one of the poorest counties in the nation."

Hoping to alleviate her cash-strapped town's troubles, Moore hustled to convince her colleagues to donate anything and everything to her town during January's Conference of Mayors in Washington D.C.

"She was the first one to approach me and say, 'Mayor, I heard you talking about buying five new vehicles for your police department," said Manhattan Beach Mayor Richard Montgomery. "She asked if I wouldn't mind selling the vehicles to her."

Moore's lobbying worked with the Manhattan Beach City Council unanimously voting to send the five decommissioned vehicles to the Pickens Police Department for $1 a piece. 

The Manhattan Beach Police Department left all of the high-end accessories in the cars, removing only the locally encrypted radios. 

To send the vehicles, the city recruited local companies with ties to Mississippi. Chevron, which has a refinery in Pascagoula, Miss. immediately jumped on board. Skechers also pitched in to help deliver the cruisers. 

"I was so excited to hear about that, that I had to put my Skechers on today," said Moore. 

Both mayors said this gift has launched a very special relationship between the two cities — something they hope lasts forever. 

"My next decision is to make them a sister city," said Montgomery. 

Moore expressed her excitement with the proposed partnership. 

"A sister city relationship, where those who have, and have it abundantly, can give to those who don't have," said Moore.

While her town does not have much, Moore said her town exuberates the quintessential quality of southern hospitality and plans to throw a mean barbecue meal for their new Manhattan Beach partners when they visit.