A California police department wants to be the first agency to have a law enforcement-branded Cybertruck, according to an internal email obtained by 404 Media.
The email Sergeant Jacob Gallacher, of the Anaheim Police Department, sent in early February read “P.S. I spoke with the Chief yesterday and we still want to be the first police agency to have a Cybertruck. If anyone can make that happen, I know it is you!” Gallacher sent the email to James Hedland from UP.FIT, a company that sells modified Teslas for use by law enforcement. The email was part of a conversation about the department’s use of Teslas.
Gallacher later told 404 Media that the email was something of “a joke,” but reaffirmed the agency’s wish to obtain a Cybertruck before other agencies, even if more for “community engagement” than using it as a patrol vehicle.
“We would, but it’s not necessarily from a patrol perspective,” Gallacher said. 404 Media obtained the email through a public records request.
I mean, sure, if a Cybertruck parked next to me somewhere, I’d probably take a close look and talk to the owner if they were around. I’m curious as much as anyone.
I don’t have high expectations, and I’m not interested in owning one, but I’d still check it out.
But that’s just because these cars are rare and novel. If anything, the questions I’d ask would be tilted towards figuring out just how shitty a car it is.
If the police are roaming around in them, they become less novel, and generally speaking people aren’t usually interested in approaching random cops for conversations. People who socialize around cars usually aren’t a big fan of the cops.
I don’t understand this point. Not only does Elon Musk’s bullshit appear regularly on boomer tv stations, but you don’t have to be very online to get exhausted with Musk content. It’s not exactly niche content, he owns Twitter and is constantly attracting media attention with dumb stunts. You have to go out of your way to avoid hearing about him.
Anyone interested enough in cars to be influenced by what kind of car the cops drive, is someone likely informed enough to know that the Cybertruck is a misengineered lemon of a car.