Berkeley reverses plans for armored car

The rugged new armored car that was supposed to be Berkeley and Albany’s present to themselves has been pushed back to the wishlist.

The two cities along with UC Berkeley announced Thursday that their police departments would no longer go after a grant for the armored vehicle.

The three agencies were planning to ask the Department of Homeland Security for funds to purchase an armored car, the Daily Californian reported last month.

Officials said a tactical vehicle would be useful in instances of active shooters, barricaded subjects and rescuing individuals.

True to Berkeley credo, however, residents began giving the agencies a hard time about the idea. They criticized the agencies for applying for the $169,000 grant.

Coupled with the negative attention police in the area were getting for their treatment of Occupy protesters and other flubs turned this into a bad situation for the agencies very quickly.

Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates said in a statement today that he was delighted that the departments have opted out of buying the vehicle:

“…(that) approach was not in alignment with our values, and we don’t believe it is needed.”