ADELYN BAXTER AND ANNA XU
According to an Albany City Council member, the Albany
Police Department has decided to back out of an agreement with Berkeley Police
Department and UCPD to purchase an armored vehicle through a federal grant.
The $170,000 federal grant to purchase a Lenco BearCat
will come from the Urban Areas Security Initiative, a Department of Homeland
Security nonprofit organization that is intended to financially support
agencies that are at high risk of a terrorist attack with “security
enhancements.”
The BearCat is used by many military and law
enforcement agencies. According to former Berkeley Police Department
spokesperson Sgt. Mary Kusmiss, the Albany, Berkeley and UC Berkeley
departments only intend to use the vehicle for “active shooters, barricaded
subjects and rescuing individuals.”
But many city and campus community members have raised
concerns over the vehicle being used in protest situations, citing the armored
vehicle previously used by Oakland police to break up the May 1 Occupy Oakland
protest.
