In a move that’s sure to frustrate taxpayers, the Irvine Police Department unveiled their recent investment—a new police Tesla Cybertruck that they somehow hope will get children to say no to drugs.
This marks the first police department to add a Cybertruck to their fleet—a famously terrible car that has been recalled five times (so far) within its first year of being on the road. The IPD shared the news on their social media accounts, commenting they were “excited to unveil what we believe is the first police Tesla Cybertruck in the nation.” After modifications, the new police vehicle cost the department $153,175.03.
However, though the Cybertruck is “fully equipped,” it won’t be used as a patrol car (good luck catching criminals in this thing – they’ll be laughing too hard to even run away) . Instead, the one-of-a-kind police car will be used for the city’s Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program and “community outreach efforts.”
“For over three decades,” the IPD’s Instagram post read, “our DARE officers have driven attention-grabbing and one-of-a-kind vehicles that never fail to turn heads and excite students.” It’s unclear how showing off flashy cars will encourage kids not to do drugs, and as a whole, the DARE program, launched in the early 80s, has proven to be extremely ineffective. The IPD’s post even reveals that their DARE program is one of only two remaining in the state of California. What a surprise.
Even if DARE was an effective program, the decision to spend that much money on a Cybertruck, of all things, is a misguided move that’s already drawing criticism. Admittedly, the social media posts had a fair share of supportive comments, but there were many others who came HARD for the new police Cyberlemontruck.
Many of the replies on the IPD’s tweet mocked the “self-conflagrating dumpster,” as one user put it. “Because nothing says Don’t Do Drugs like a car you have to be on Drugs to appreciate,” another commenter added. One user questioned the efficacy of this plan to appeal to DARE students, as a Cybertruck is “the one vehicle that is essentially universally hated and roundly mocked by everyone in that age group.” In general, “Cringe as fu*k,” was a common sentiment.
Several replies pointed out how frustrating it is to see the police department spend so many taxpayer dollars on a glorified promotional vehicle when underfunded school teachers have to pay for supplies out of their own pockets. There were also a bunch of highly accurate Robocop comparisons.
Spending $153,000 on car in a desperate attempt to keep kids interested in DARE’s ineffective drug prevention curriculum is bad enough. But when that car is a Cybertruck, the IPD might as well be flushing money down the drain.
Since their release in late 2023, Cybertruck owners have reported a number of bizarre problems that one wouldn’t expect from most cars. Going through a car wash without turning on the Cybertruck’s specific Car Wash Mode can render the car completely inoperable and void the warranty (as can washing the car in direct sunlight, apparently).
Other drivers have experienced trouble with corrosion, getting trapped inside for hours, windows cracking and shattering spontaneously, trim pieces breaking off, and becoming bricked multiple times for seemingly no reason. Car and Driver magazine was forced to give the Cybertruck a score of zero in its review of electric vehicles, as the one they rented broke down after two days and just a couple hundred miles.
Five recalls have been issued for the Cybertruck to address issues with the rear-view camera, windshield wipers, broken trim pieces, and accelerator pedal. It’s hard not to think of IPD’s new police car as anything other than a waste of money, given the well-documented issues with Cybertrucks and the general pointlessness of its intended application. For as hard as they push back against calls to defund the police, the police sure are making a good argument for it.
Published: Oct 11, 2024 04:20 am