pages: CityCouncil/2021-03-30.pdf, 5
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CityCouncil | 2021-03-30 | 5 | case of an active shooter, Council should ensure the policy limits the vehicle to occurrences with an active shooter; Berkeley has staging off-site for quick deployment in the event of an active shooter situation; there is a reason the vehicle is not painted in the City's colors; the vehicle is intimidating and does not look like any other City vehicle; the City of Emeryville has an armored Ford Transit vehicle that looks like an average vehicle; the City's vehicle is designed to intimidate and scare people; there is an impact when the vehicle drives into the community; discussed an eviction in West Oakland utilizing an armored vehicle; stated that he would like to see use of the vehicle limited to address specific issues and not loan it out as backup for pre-planned events in other cities; one of the incidents in deploying the vehicle consisted of directing traffic during a parade and demonstration; the vehicle has been used in places where the there was no threat of shooting; noted the former Police Chief spoke about using the vehicle in a number of local protests; expressed support for narrowing the scope to meet the community's need for the vehicle. Councilmember Daysog stated the staff report says it all in the Executive Summary: "the emergency response vehicle is a critical tool to assist the Police Department in keeping the citizens of Alameda safe;" he hopes there will never be a tragic situation in Alameda which requires the use of such a vehicle; should a tragic situation unfold, the City must be sure to use the vehicle and help safeguard residents and the Police force; Council should reconsider the June 2020 vote; the City should keep the vehicle; it is unknown what will happen; the ability to act swiftly is imperative during a crisis; expressed concern about policies which amount to checklists that require the Police to wait a certain amount of time in order to satisfy checklist review; stated that he likes the way the current policy reads: "permission to utilize the vehicle will come from the CERT commander during SWAT operations or a supervisor in high risk incidents falling outside of the scope of a CERT operations the City is depending on the professional judgement of staff to interpret the circumstances; Council needs to provide the discretion to act quickly; expressed support for sending the vehicle out even if it is not used; noted in situations of active shooters, the preference is not to wait. Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft stated the Berkeley policy is three pages long and is not as much a checklist, rather it provides criteria for objective risk and situation assessment; the use is left to professionals; expressed support for a more spelled out policy; noted the Interim Police Chief has expressed support for the Berkeley policy and said the policy could easily be implemented in Alameda. Vice Mayor Vella stated that she shares Councilmember Knox White's concerns; Council previously voted on the matter; she understands there is confusion on matters returning to Council when a unanimous vote of Council has occurred; Council should not be so cavalier with deploying a vehicle when not needed; a message is sent having the vehicle deployed in any neighborhood and driving around town; Council has received e-mails when Oakland's tactical vehicle was parked on Park Street; Council needs to be careful due to the symbolism; the vehicle is not normal, is not an armored van, which other cities have, and is not inconspicuous; discretion is a tricky thing; while it is nice to have discretion, there will be times where a disagreement occurs on whether or not the vehicle should have been deployed; there is an issue with the existing policy showing a lot of discretion should Council desire to reverse course from previous direction; Council needs to curtail the Continued March 16, 2021 Regular Meeting Alameda City Council 5 March 30, 2021 | CityCouncil/2021-03-30.pdf |