The city of Cornelius is preparing to dissolve its police department, and part of that process includes selling off its firearms.
The city put its police department's guns -- 16 40-caliber Glock pistols and one 9mm pistol -- up for auction through the Oregon Association Chiefs of Police and through multiple licensed firearms dealers. When the auction closed on Monday, the high bid for the lot of firearms went to a local business, Baseline Pawn.
The Cornelius shop will pay $250 each for the guns, a bid that retiring Cornelius Police Chief Ken Summers called "generous" compared to other bids. He estimated the guns had a retail value of $325 each.
City Manager Rob Drake said the $4,250 from the sale will go into the city's general fund.
The guns are in good condition, Summers said, but they'll be sold when they're no longer needed.
Starting July 1, the Cornelius Police Department will be dissolved and the city will begin contracting for police services with the Washington County Sheriff's Office. Current CPD officers will become sheriff's deputies, and they'll use firearms owned by WCSO.
The policing contract is estimated to cost the city about $5.9 million over three years.
Lt. Gene Moss, who will supervise the 12 Cornelius-based deputies, gave more details about the transition during Monday's Cornelius City Council meeting.
In the first three weeks of the change over, Moss said the former CPD officers will receive "baseline training" and orientation as county employees. After that, they'll spend 60 days in a training phase where they go out into the field, across the county, with guidance from "transition deputies."
About half of the existing CPD force will return as deputies covering the city of Cornelius, Moss said. The other half will be assigned to other areas of the county.
During this transition time, WCSO deputies will serve the city, using CPD cars, but in their black and tan county uniforms.
By Sept. 1, Moss said, he plans to have determined which deputies will be regularly assigned to Cornelius. They will be given CPD uniforms, though they will remain county employees.
The Cornelius Police Department also has two civilian employees. The office support specialist, who works part-time for police services and part-time for fire services, will remain a city employee. The other position, a part-time evidence technician, is being eliminated. Drake added, however, that the employee has already received a job with the sheriff's office.
Copyright 2014 - The Oregonian, Portland, Ore.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
