I prefer the more benign community policing approaches to protecting our citizens. After all, we’re not a war zone yet and our roads don’t qualify as rugged rural terrain. I’d love to see the $300,000 price tag spent on another firetruck or ambulance (with Eagle Raven totem designs), mental health staffing for calls that involve disturbed individuals, covering and expanding the operations for the unhoused and folks with addictions.
This chunk of federal funding is probably limited to this type of equipment. That’s most unfortunate. It’s a gift from the federal government that we don’t want or need. If the purchase can’t be cancelled, have the vehicle delivered to Ukraine, where it’s truly needed.
A Lenco Armored Vehicle BearCat G3 doesn’t fit in with the flowers barrels downtown nor the flags of all the states on Egan Drive, nor the bear and whale sculptures that celebrate our local wildlife. Nor with thousands of tourists walking our safe streets. I remember fondly a past police chief who impressed us by riding his bike around town.
Please, Assembly members, encourage the police department to continue building rapport with the community, not drive around in a tank that reminds us of mankind’s worst impulses.
Odette Edgar,
Juneau
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