Sacramento police haven't used armored track vehicle nearly two years since it was purchased for $430,000

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The Police Department purchased the vehicle, called the Rook, using $430,000 from a federal grant. The Sacramento City Council approved the purchase in late January 2023 after a lengthy and heated debate in which critics, including one council member, said this was “further militarizing” local law enforcement.

The Rook’s armored-plating is designed to protect officers facing the threat of gunfire; the vehicle is not meant for “any of the traditional senses of military use,” Police Chief Kathy Lester said at that City Council meeting. The Rook, Lester said, allows officers the mobility to gain safe positions of advantage and provides opportunities for them to resolve dangerous situations using de-escalation techniques and potentially less force “when dealing with really violent people.”

In June 2019, Sacramento police Officer Tara O’Sullivan was killed in an ambush while trying to help a woman retrieve her belongings from a home where Adel Sambrano Ramos had been behaving erratically. O’Sullivan was mortally wounded by gunfire and lay on the ground nearly an hour before tactical officers were able to secure her rescue. After an hourslong standoff, the armed gunman, later identified as Ramos, surrendered.

In early December, police officials confirmed the armored vehicle purchased 23 months ago has not been used. They said the vehicle was at the city Fleet Services department being outfitted. It’s unclear how the vehicle is being outfitted and whether the service it’s undergoing was the reason the Rook hasn’t been used. Police officials said they would be able to answer these questions after the armored track vehicle is returned to them.

Read more at: https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article297187329.html#storylink=cpy