CONCORD — Concord is going to use a portion of federal funds meant to help the city recover from the economic and health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing recession on police equipment.
The Concord City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to allocate $7 million of one-time American Rescue Plan Act funds for city projects, public safety, and special events.
The police will be getting a $217,000 militarized van and $850,000 worth of tasers and body-worn cameras from Axon Enterprises, Inc.
During a presentation before council, Assistant City Manager Justin Ezell said the van is needed to rescue injured or at-risk people as well as officers during emergency events.
The contract with The Armored Group includes an agreement to turn a Ford T350 chassis — similar to an Amazon delivery van — into an “Armored LE Protector Van,” making it bulletproof and armoring it on all sides, including the roof.
The Armored Group is based in Arizona and has nearly 30 years of experience engineering, manufacturing and customizing armored vehicles for use by government, military agencies and law enforcement, according to a city staff report.
Ezell explained that the department’s previous rescue van was decommissioned after 30 years due to safety and reliability concerns.
Because the van was donated, it was not part of the city’s fleet replacement program, and no funds were set aside to replace it.
The van will be bought using $120,000 of ARPA funds and $96,642 of asset forfeiture funds.
Several speakers at Tuesday’s meeting expressed concerns about using the fund in a way that could increase harmful policing.
Hope Johnson, of Concord, said the money should not go to the police department for things it should cover in its own budget.
“We do not need to spend funds that are intended to speed up economic recovery on militarizing the police with a van,” said Johnson, saying the city was using funds meant to “speed up economic recovery” on “toys for the police department.”
Councilmembers did not address Johnson’s concerns.
Concord received a little more than $27 million directly from the U.S. Treasury. The funds were split into two payments, which were received in May 2021 and June 2022.
Other expenses approved in the same vote include $2.75 million on various cleaning and security programs for downtown areas, $100,000 for financial assistance for families in need, $2.1 million for street paving, and $100,000 for a two-year, overnight summer camp for at-risk youth.
Source: www.mercurynews.com