UC Halts Purchase of Armored Truck

An armored vehicle paid for with homeland security funds for use by three police departments will be making a U-turn.

The eight-ton truck has no place on campus, UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgenau said.

"Campus administrators evaluated the proposal and concluded that such a military-style vehicle is not the best choice for a university setting," Birgenau says in email message. "UC officials are in the process of canceling the order for the vehicle."

Had the tank rolled onto the campus as planned, Birgenau knew he could be looking at "endless demonstrations," Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates said. 

"I was really happy he came to the decision he did," Bates said.

Berkeley, Albany and UC Berkeley police departments teamed up as the North County Tactical Working Group to apply for a $170,000 grant from the Urban Areas Security Initiative to pay for the Lenco BearCat, which was approved. Berkeley police would have had access to the truck, but the university would have retained ownership.

The purchase did not flout any city rules, but nonetheless drew the ire of residents and Berkeley City Council members, who said it represented a militarization of the police.

Proponents say mass murders at Oikos University and Virginia Tech show access to an armored truck is, sadly, all too appropriate on college campuses.

The concern is "understandable," Birgenau says in his message. A gunman killed 32 and wounded 17 at Virginia Tech in 2007. A rampage at Oakland's Oikos April 2 left seven dead and injured three. 

"Obviously, the police department thought it would be a great tool to have at our disposal in a situation where we need to rescue police officers or the public from gunfire," said UCPD spokesman Lt. Eric Tejada.

"It's unfortunate, but we need to plan for that contingency, just as you plan for an earthquake," he said. "You hope it never happens, but in society today you have to be prepared."

Berkeley Police Chief Michael Meehan is on vacation and was not reachable for comment today. 

The council hammered police over the decision to place the truck on the campus.

"That is troubling to me given that last November the university was involved with the Alameda County Sheriff in beating protesters," Councilman Jesse Arreguin said. "I'm very concerned about the lack of safeguards to ensure people will not be negatively affected by this armored vehicle simply for exercising their First Amendment rights."

Tejada rejected the scenario.

"We never would have used it in a crowd control situation," he said. "That is not what a vehicle like this was made for.

Bates said that Oakland and San Francisco already have similar tanks, and that in the event of a crisis, "we could call upon our neighbors."

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