Sacramento leaders must reject police bid for yet another costly military vehicle | Opinion

This evening, the Sacramento City Council will vote on the purchase of yet another armored military vehicle for the Sacramento Police Department, which already owns both a BearCat — an armored rescue and response vehicle — and a Peacekeeper Protected Response Vehicle.

Sacramento Police leadership have requested a whopping $439,894 to purchase a Rook, an armored multi-terrain loader, for the purpose of protecting “officers and citizens during high-risk search warrants, hostage situations, barricaded subjects and other dangerous circumstances.” Sac PD says this vehicle is different from the other two military vehicles it already owns as the Rook “is the only rescue vehicle of its type with an armored deployment platform which is an essential component that can lift personnel to a second story. The platform can also be utilized for rescues and evacuations.”

Yes, there could be situations where a a rescue vehicle that can reach a second story would be critical. But if and when such a crisis does occur in Sacramento, city police could seek the support of Sacramento County Sheriff, whose department already owns a Rook.

Purchasing a third armored vehicle for Sacramento Police would only add to the nationwide issue of over-militarized police departments.

This request also comes at a time when Sacramento’s police department is struggling to build community trust, especially in communities of color. Adding yet another military vehicle — which could be deployed in the very neighborhoods most weary of police — complicates any trust-building efforts undertaken by city police.

To acquire this new vehicle, a two-thirds vote of approval from the city council is required. This issue will test the newly-elected progressive council members: Lisa Kaplan, Karina Talamantes and Caity Maple. They joined progressive council members Mai Vang and Katie Valenzuela to form a new generation of leaders in Sacramento. If these women joined forces to vote against this unnecessary and massive expense, the council would send a message to the community that they do not support the over-militarization of our police.

“Militarizing the police force has become normal, [and] the more normal it becomes, the more equipment they add on,” Maple, who supports demilitarization efforts, told The Bee in 2021. Now is her chance to vote for what is right.

According to the Sacramento City auditor’s 2021 community survey, the rating of police services had declined since the city’s previous survey — in 2019, approximately 49% of respondents rated Sacramento’s police services as “excellent” or “good,” but that number dropped to 39% in 2021.

The fact of the matter is that Sacramento Police have not done enough to persuade the public that a half-million dollar armored vehicle is needed for our protection. Yes, police officers face crisis situations in our region. But there are already a dozen armored vehicles belonging to police departments within a 30-mile radius of the Sacramento area.

A department needing to rebuild community trust doesn’t need another one.