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A California police department wants to be the first agency to have a law enforcement-branded Cybertruck, according to an internal email obtained by 404 Media.

The email Sergeant Jacob Gallacher, of the Anaheim Police Department, sent in early February read “P.S. I spoke with the Chief yesterday and we still want to be the first police agency to have a Cybertruck. If anyone can make that happen, I know it is you!” Gallacher sent the email to James Hedland from UP.FIT, a company that sells modified Teslas for use by law enforcement. The email was part of a conversation about the department’s use of Teslas.

Gallacher later told 404 Media that the email was something of “a joke,” but reaffirmed the agency’s wish to obtain a Cybertruck before other agencies, even if more for “community engagement” than using it as a patrol vehicle.

“We would, but it’s not necessarily from a patrol perspective,” Gallacher said. 404 Media obtained the email through a public records request.

  • tal@lemmy.today
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    4 months ago

    Fast acceleration and low fuel use might be desirable characteristics for a police vehicle, but that seems like a kind of pricey vehicle to be used in a role that one expects wear-and-tear in.

    thinks

    Sometimes police need to sit in their car idle for a long time. If the traction battery in the Cybertruck can be used to drive accessories (like, if there’s an inverter or something driven by the traction battery), that might be useful. My understanding is that a number of EVs don’t permit for that, though.

    • Darkassassin07@lemmy.ca
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      4 months ago

      The Cybertruck explicitly advertises its 120/240vac inverter for ‘job site tools’ and other similar uses; then voids your warranty if you actually use it ‘while stationary’.

      Here’s Louis Rossmann ranting about it for a bit.

  • DominusOfMegadeus@sh.itjust.works
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    4 months ago

    Yes, we need the least functional, least capable, most failure prone, most brutalist vehicle possible. For community engagement.

    EDIT: Also the most dangerous to both occupants and especially pedestrians.

    • shalafi@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      community engagement

      OK, I’ll argue for the cops on this one. Just this once!

      Community engagement is a real thing, gets people talking to cops who otherwise wouldn’t. And that can be a positive experience all around.

      For example; The Tulsa cops had a bitchin’ (my 80s coming out) Corvette Stingray they showed off at the fair and every other chance they had. They had quite an audience gathered around, talking about the car at first and then asking questions about LE.

      Idea being, it’s not supposed to be a regular cruiser.

      • TheWeirdestCunt@lemm.ee
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        4 months ago

        At least Stingrays look good, I don’t think anyone’s gonna be crowding around a cybertruck asking about it’s specs

        • Aidinthel@reddthat.com
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          4 months ago

          The YouTube channel Throttle House did a road trip with the cybertruck and they found that a lot of people actually were curious about it.

          https://youtu.be/xNE-NyaYBcg?si=1CS2DxHsocEYc0b- (around 24:15)

          For all it’s flaws, you can’t deny it looks different from all the other cars around, and most people aren’t online enough to have an opinion about Musk and his bullshit, so to them it’s just an interesting looking car.

  • The Snark Urge@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    I still think fondly on the time I saw a burning cop car during the BLM protests. That was a good day; Grateful for the promise of more to come.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Being aware of what police departments are up to is not an advertisement for Elon.

      Also, no one here is going to buy the Homer Car Cybertruck.

      • Optional@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        I appreciate the sentiment of not promoting Elmo but yeah. Even if it wasn’t a dumpster fire, i doubt there’s a lot of potential buyers here.

        • Amanduh@lemm.ee
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          4 months ago

          If the truck didn’t have a bunch of issues I would totally buy one. I like how it looks.