By Spencer Levering
Las Vegas Review-Journal
LAS VEGAS — The Metropolitan Police Department’s technology was on full force Tuesday as Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill showcased new vehicles that he hailed as “the future of policing”: Tesla Cybertrucks.
Metro’s new 10-car, all-electric fleet is expected to start patrolling Las Vegas roads in the next few weeks, McMahill said, and more than 400 officers have already been trained on how to drive the bulky vehicles. He said each Metro Area Command around the valley will receive one Cybertruck.
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“These trucks are high performance and they’re built tough. They handle everything from Fremont Street to Red Rock Canyon,” McMahill said. “They’re practical, they’re powerful and they’re designed to make our job that much safer.”
The Cybertrucks were fully paid for by a donation from Ben Horowitz, co-founder of the Andreessen Horowitz venture capital firm, and his wife Felicia. McMahill estimated the two donated between $8 million and $9 million so Metro could purchase the 10 Cybertrucks, representing the largest police fleet of Tesla trucks in the country.
“This is just the next evolution in keeping our community safer than it’s ever been,” McMahill said.
Supercharged policing
The inside and outside of each Cybertruck have been custom-fitted to fit the needs of Metro officers, McMahill said.
The leather back seats were exchanged for plastic ones and are separated from the front cabin with a see-through barrier. Red and blue emergency lights lining all sides of the Cybertruck illuminate the black-and-white wrap that identifies it as a police vehicle.
The cars also have an upgraded battery capacity to help keep them charged through the day. McMahill said the Cybertrucks will be recharged at electric vehicle charging stations throughout the valley, as the cost of building a Metro-only charging network was too steep.
The Cybertrucks will respond to critical calls like barricades and shootings, according to McMahill, and each is equipped with tactical gear including ladders, shields and less-than-lethal firearms with ammunition. The truck’s increased storage capacity allows officers to carry more tools than traditional police vehicles can, he added.
“We don’t have the funds to put low-lethal tools of the magnitude that are going to be in these trucks in every vehicle that we have,” McMahill said, “so the officers that are driving these trucks are specially trained in being able to utilize all of those weapons in the vehicle for deescalation purposes.”
Besides a vehicle upgrade, McMahill said he sees the Cybertrucks as both a recruiting tool and a test run for electric vehicles more broadly. He said the department will monitor how the vehicles perform to see if further investments in electric patrol cars would be worthwhile.
“I promise to take better care of our police officers than we ever have so they will take care of this community better than they ever have,” McMahill said. “This is a part of that.”
Contact Spencer Levering at slevering@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0253.
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