Police consider Cybertruck purchase, explain Flock camera usage

by Laura Bednar

The Independence Police Department is considering adding a Cybertruck to its vehicle fleet.

The Tesla Cybertruck is an electric pickup released in 2023. Some vehicle functions can be controlled through a smartphone.

Police Chief Robert Butler said the department received a $320,000 federal grant for vehicle upgrade modernization and he wants to use almost $97,000 for a Cybertruck.

He said the department spends around $320,000 per year on new police vehicles. Last year, they bought three Ford Explorer cruisers and an F-150 truck. With the grant, Butler said the department is effectively being reimbursed for those purchases.

He said he wants to use this money to “move the fleet forward” by purchasing one Cybertruck as a specialty vehicle.

“This is extra outside what we normally do,” he said.

Butler explained that a Cybertruck has a unique look that is memorable. “It’s wrapped to be bright, shiny and obnoxious,” he said. Butler said the goal is to make the vehicle highly visible to the public and potential criminals.

In previous years, city officials had discussed building a satellite police station on Rockside Road. Butler said that wouldn’t help because police are mobile and a Cybertruck is both mobile and visible.

Officer Nick Amato said police want to be seen when they are making arrests. He added that the pickup bed offers more room for cones and other safety equipment, such as generators, that do not currently fit in the department’s Ford Explorers. When he attended a police awards ceremony in Columbus, Amato said the key takeaway was a push for visibility in policing.

The Cybertruck would also be used in the revitalization of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program for youth in the city.

Butler said the cost breakdown for the Cybertruck includes $87,800 for the truck with upfitting; an estimated $1,050 per year for electric costs; $2,000 for a power station, which would be inside a police garage to charge the vehicle; and $5,000 for graphics and wrapping the car in blue.

The Cybertruck’s battery lasts around eight years, or 150,000 miles, according to Butler. Repairs would be covered under the Cybertruck warranty and the city service department said it could change tires. Butler said it would not increase rates for the city’s insurance. The goal is to have an officer on each shift be trained to drive the Cybertruck.

Flock cameras

Independence has 31 Flock license plate reader cameras throughout the city. Butler said the cameras cost $77,500 per year to maintain and are the most proactive tools for police officers. Since purchasing the cameras six years ago, Butler said there has been a decrease in residential area crime.

The cameras capture still images of vehicles and license plates and can alert officers to stolen vehicles, missing persons, fleeing suspects and vehicles associated with serious crimes. Butler said they are also used for evidence in investigations, such as using the time stamp from the photos to determine when a suspect drove through the city and where they could be now.

Flock cameras capture 20 billion vehicles per month nationwide, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. Butler explained that Independence’s camera data is only shared within the state of Ohio if another department asks for it.

The data is stored through Flock and held for 15 days before it’s deleted. If someone pulls out data for a longer investigation, the time it was pulled and officer who pulled it are tracked. The system also generates flags for suspected misuse.

Butler said the only things a camera captures are a license plate image, vehicle image and characteristics, date and time, and the camera location. It is not a traffic camera, does not record audio and does not use facial recognition technology.

When the cameras generate an alert, officers are notified through their cruiser computers. Dispatch is also notified. An officer then verifies the plate and vehicle and determines whether the alert is still valid. Police take action only when there is a lawful basis to do so.

Photo caption: Pictured is a rendering of what the Independence police Cybertruck would look like with the blue wrapping and graphics. Photo courtesy of Robert Butler.