Stehekin Gets Sheriff’s Vehicle For First Time In Over 20 Years

It's been over two decades since the tiny town of Stehekin on the northern shores of Lake Chelan has had a police vehicle, but as of this week, that's changed.

The Chelan County Sheriff's Office says it has ferried one of its vehicles to the remote town of barely 100 year-round residents, where it will serve the community into the foreseeable future.

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Sheriff's officials say the SUV is a former school resource officer unit which is being rotated out of service from its main fleet and was acquired at a fraction of the cost for a new vehicle.

The SUV will be available for periodic patrols and when other situations arise as needed in Stehekin and the surrounding wilderness wherever the area's primitive road system can accommodate it.

The Sheriff's Office doesn't have a full-time deputy dedicated to the Stehekin vicinity, but its Marine Patrol units frequently use the town for docking their vessels.

Sheriff Mike Morrison says the move to place a patrol vehicle in Stehekin reflects his agency's "commitment to serving all of our communities to the best of our ability utilizing the resources entrusted to us."