By Rebecca Kaplan–
In fall of 2024, the Oakland City Council passed critical Public Safety Resolutions to acquire new police cars to better serve vital needs. Many existing vehicles are very old and in poor condition, past their useful life and difficult to maintain. New vehicles would provide better service and would be more efficient as well.
The council resolution authorized the purchase, and then we learned that the vehicles had arrived at the dealership. We looked into it and discovered that there are 37 new vehicles for Oakland, and they are at the Ford Store San Leandro. We have been taking action to ensure the transaction is completed!
Thus began the case of the not so missing police cars, which required identifying why the payment wasn’t being issued for the vehicles, and then taking the steps needed to get it done.
Why is this so important? Many of the vehicles in the city’s fleet—including police cars, fire trucks, and more—have exceeded their life cycle. The replacement of vehicles is essential for the uninterrupted and timely provision of emergency services. So, 37 cars have been waiting. Meanwhile, our first responder personnel have been forced to use vehicles that should have been retired a long time ago, and sometimes break down or become unavailable.
While we were working to solve the missing police cars, and looking into records of approvals for funding for vehicle purchases, we learned that there is also a pending order for fire trucks for the city of Oakland. The trucks are actively being built, are very much needed to help the fire department, and they should be ready soon.
However, there hasn’t been a council resolution to acquire them. So, to make sure there will be no impediment to getting the new fire trucks, we are including that acquisition as well. We also discovered that the fire trucks were prepaid, and so no new expenditure will be needed to approve that acquisition.
Now we can take action to improve our public safety response, improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our vehicles, save the cost and trouble of operating out-of-date equipment, and make use of existing funds that council authorizes for these purposes.
We have submitted to council a resolution to solve this, and authorize Oakland to acquire the new police cars and fire trucks!
Oakland Interim District Two Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan was elected to the Oakland City Council in 2008. She was re-elected in 2016 and 2020. Follow her on Facebook (https://bit.ly/4k2DwdY), Instagram (@kaplan_for_oakland), and X (@Kaplan4Oakland).
Out of the Closet and into City Hall
Published on May 8, 2025
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