NEWPORT BEACH : Old Uniforms Given to Tijuana Officers

Tijuana Police Chief C. Jorge Alvarez Barriere didn’t exactly come to this city begging, but he nonetheless left with a smile on his face and a new hat in hand.

Alvarez spent Thursday driving a green-and-white police van between Newport Beach and Long Beach to pick up hundreds of much-needed police uniforms, hats, batons, leather belts and boots for his financially strapped department.

All it cost him was gas money.

When Newport Beach switched from tan uniforms to the dark blue version last month, the dilemma about what to do with the hundreds of obsolete clothes was quickly solved when they learned that the Seguridad Publica Municipal----Tijuana’s combined police and fire department----was looking to clothe its personnel.

“We didn’t need the uniforms anymore,” said Newport Beach Police Capt. Gary Petersen, who coordinated the uniform donation. The Long Beach Police Department donated leather accessories.

“They were of no value to us,” Petersen said. “But the Mexican authorities did need them badly and it helps to build a stronger relationship between our two agencies. It never hurts when we exchange equipment, ideas and manpower.”

The trip north by the Tijuana authorities also went a long way toward cementing friendly relationships between the law enforcement agencies in the two countries.

“We’ve had an excellent experience here,” Alvarez said, while the van was being loaded up with bags and boxes of outdated police uniforms. “We’ve been able to get to know a lot of friends, who are able to lend a helping hand.”

Newport Beach is not the only fire or police agency in Orange County to make the going easier for a Mexican counterpart. Over the years, almost every public safety agency in the county has donated obsolete trucks, equipment or uniforms to Mexican departments that cannot afford to buy them.

For instance, Orange County Fire Department Capt. Dan Young said that his agency frequently hands over surplus fire engines, paramedic vans and other firefighting equipment to a variety of Mexican cities.

When he made a trip to Tecate, Mexico, last year to hand out fire extinguishers and smoke detectors to an orphanage that was considered an extreme fire hazard, Young noticed a paramedic van sitting in a local fire station that sparked old memories for him.

“I saw that unit, I said, ‘Hey that’s one of ours,’ and my heart dropped,” Young said. “It was the same paramedic van I trained on. They turned it into an ambulance years ago, and it was working fine.”

The California Highway Patrol has also made several donations that include motorcycles as well as clothing, said Officer Ken Daily of the San Juan Capistrano station.

The Fullerton Fire Department also has been involved with donations ranging from heavy equipment to hoses and axes, Fire Chief Ron Coleman said. Through a cooperative firefighting training program called the Bomberos, the department helps keep the Mexicali fire teams in fighting shape.

In three weeks, Coleman said he expects to be donating as many as 50 oxygen breathing apparatuses. “I can’t even remember how much clothing we’ve donated,” he said.

Several local police departments make donations whenever they change uniforms or update equipment such as radios, helmets or other protective gear.

Fountain Valley police Sgt. Larry Griswold said that last year, his department carted 60 riot helmets and 15 protective vests to Rosarito Beach, a popular tourist spot south of Tijuana.

“We want to make sure the equipment is put to good use,” Griswold said.

Alvarez said that the Tijuana police department, which also patrols Rosarito Beach, is unable to pay for the uniforms of its 1,500 fire and police personnel.

For years, his and other public safety departments have been faced with tight budgets that keep them from properly outfitting their officers and firefighters.

Seeking relief from agencies north of the border has been an alternative that has long been used, and will continue to be employed in the foreseeable future, said Alvarez, who became director of public safety last year when a new government took over.

But as with all hand-me-downs, Alvarez admits that the supplies donated from north of the border don’t always suit the need exactly.

“You just have to stand by and see what you get,” he said.