Mayor of Pound suggests Kentucky drivers pay for new police car
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Officials in Pound, Va. are hoping to buy a new police car, but a local paper suggests, Mayor George Dean wants to hand the bill to Kentucky Drivers.
Mayor Dean told council members, "Kentucky is paying for it."
The phrase is not sitting well with drivers who commute to work in Virginia from Letcher County.
One Kentucky driver, Nancy Leet, said she's greeted the same way every day on her way to work.
"As soon as you come down into the mountain into Virginia, there's always a cop sitting there," she said. "He's always one place or the other."
Leet told WYMT Thursday, it's been an issue since she started working in Virginia 13 years ago.
"I felt targeted for a long time, being a Kentucky resident crossing into Virginia for work anyway. I feel like (the officer is) always looking for you, waiting for you," said Leet.
She said, after reading the article, she's not at all surprised.
"It validates how I felt over the years," she said. "I mean, I was like, 'Okay, I don't just think that they do this a lot. They really do. It's true.'"
On the other side of the state line, Jenkins Police Chief Jim Stephens said, his officers don't play games.
"Everything is above board, we don't do anything different just because you're from another state," said Chief Stephens.
He suggested, obeying the law is the best way to avoid a ticket, but if you are pulled over for any reason, attitude goes a long way.
"Nine times out of ten, if you're polite to the officer, he'll be polite and firm, but fair, with you," said Chief Stephens. "So that's the best way, the adage of 'treat everybody the way you want to be treated,' that goes for police as well."
We were told Mayor Dean is out of town, expected to return Monday.
The Pound Police Department released the following statement: