Congressman Farr releases letter questioning Santa Cruz City process re: BearCat purchase

"The grant for the PD's purchase of the vehicle was approved by the feds in March, 2014. The PD sat on executing the grant until the last moment, when it rushed to the city council for an approval at its December meeting…...It looks to me like the PD failed to be transparent with the city council in this transaction. The city council, for its part, should have demanded whatever additional information it wanted from the PD before approving the acceptance of the grant," Congressman Farr said.

He also called on the citizens of Santa Cruz to petition their government regarding their concerns, exactly what has been done by SCRAM! and its supporting groups and individuals, for the last three months.

"To me, the controversy is over both the vehicle itself and the manner in which it was procured…..That Bearcat is on its way to Santa Cruz unless the city council votes to reverse its approval of the grant....I believe people have the absolute right to petition their government to change things they don't like. If the people of Santa Cruz want to get rid of the Bearcat, they need to petition the city council which took the action that allowed the Bearcat to come to Santa Cruz. Contact the mayor and city council members with your thoughts and attend the March 24 City Council meeting. They have the power to rescind the purchase. If this were a federal issue I'd be at the front of the line trying to correct whatever missteps were taken. But this is a local issue and needs to be corrected at the local level,” Farr said (see full letter below).

Since December 9th, 2014, when the purchase was first approved, over 1000 signatures have been collected on a petition to rescind the approval, five Rallies and Speak Outs have been conducted at City Hall, a Public Forum on Militarization of the Police was presented on February 11th, an opinion editorial written by SCRAM! was published on March 7th in the SC Sentinel, and much other media coverage has been secured!

Twenty supporting organizations have endorsed the work and goals of SCRAM!, and hundreds of individuals have spoken or written to the City Council about their intense concerns over this issue.

SCRAM! has also met with all but one City Council Member, and has another meeting scheduled with the Mayor, the City Manager, the Police Chief, and other representatives from SCPD. Extensive research into the process and timeline used to secure the grant from Homeland Security has been done, as well as looking at the experience of use of the BearCat and similar vehicles in other cities throughout the United States. All of this has been presented to the City Council and to the public.

Congressman Farr refers to a deadline for the Council to take action. Despite many Public Record Act requests, SCRAM! has been unable to secure any written verification of such a deadline. The BearCat is also a new vehicle, an armored personnel carrier, being purchased from Lenco, not a "surplus armored vehicle” as said in Congressman Farr’s letter.

SCRAM! holds another Rally today at 4PM at City Hall, and again on March 24th, when the BearCat is back on the agenda for further action at the Civic Auditorium at 7PM, when hundreds of concerned citizens are expected to come out and be heard! (see announcement below)

SCRAM!, an ad hoc organizing group, has three primary goals:

1) to bring the BearCat back onto the SC City Council agenda for a full public hearing and to rescind the approval
2) to establish a long term policy for grant applications and acceptance in the City that ensures timeliness, transparency, full public disclosure and input
3) to help develop and implement future policies that prevent militarized equipment from flowing into law enforcement agencies throughout Santa Cruz County

The goals and work of SCRAM! are supported by, a growing list:

ACLU of Northern CA (SC Chapter), Project Pollinate, People United for Peace (SC County), Santa Cruz Quaker Meeting, Resource Center for Nonviolence, Food Not Bombs, Veterans for Peace (SC), Sin Barras, Community Coalition to Overcome Racism (SC County), Jewish Voice for Peace (SC), People's Democratic Club, Peace and Freedom Party (SC), Homeless Persons Legal Assistance Project, MediaWatch/Youth Radio Project, ISLAH Reparations Project, United Nations Association (SC), Code Pink (SC), Romero Institute, Thrive Santa Cruz, Women in Black (SC), Bill Motto Post 5888 Veterans of Foreign Wars.


Email from Congressman Sam Farr:

Dear Sherry,

Thanks for reaching out to me on the issue of the Bearcat – a surplus armored vehicle being purchased by the City of Santa Cruz for its police force. There's a lot of controversy around the recent decision by the Santa Cruz Police Department to purchase this excess military vehicle, and also around the city council's approval of the purchase. I have been pulled into this issue because I wrote a letter supporting the PD's request for the grant money to make the purchase. For the last several weeks I have been asked by many constituents to rescind my letter for the PD's grant request and to stop the purchase of the vehicle.

As usual, what's circulating in public is missing a lot of the facts. Let me try to set the record straight and also let you know that the city has the ability to reverse the purchase of this vehicle. I urge you to make your opinion known when the City Council meets on March 24 and discusses this issue once again.

The Santa Cruz PD first decided to apply for a federal grant to purchase the vehicle in the summer of 2013. They came to me with a request that I write a letter of support for their grant application. I did so – something I do regularly for local grant applicants, especially those being pursued by local governments. I assume these governmental bodies, whether they be local boards, commissions, cities, or counties, have done their due diligence on the need for the money – including gathering public input – and if their case sounds reasonable I want to help. There's no reason why federal funds shouldn't flow to our community and I try hard to keep that flow going.

My letter in support of the grant application was dated September 26, 2013 not long after the tragic shooting of two local Santa Cruz police officers. I'm sure you remember how horrified we all were when officers Baker and Butler were killed – the outpouring of grief required moving their memorial to the HP Pavilion in San Jose. My letter was also prior to the events in Ferguson, Missouri of 2014 which made all of America rethink its policing policies. Indeed, last year I cosponsored a bill, HR 5478, that would end the free transfers of certain aggressive military equipment to local law enforcement in order to preserve the important distinction between our military and our police. I am cosponsoring a similar bill this year.

The grant for the PD's purchase of the vehicle was approved by the feds in March, 2014. The PD sat on executing the grant until the last moment, when it rushed to the city council for an approval at its December meeting. Had the city not approved accepting the grant money for the purchase, it would have been lost.

It looks to me like the PD failed to be transparent with the city council in this transaction. The city council, for its part, should have demanded whatever additional information it wanted from the PD before approving the acceptance of the grant, even if it meant special council meetings to beat the December 31 deadline.

To me, the controversy is over both the vehicle itself and the manner in which it was procured. My letter is ancillary to this issue; rescinding it would not change anything. That Bearcat is on its way to Santa Cruz unless the city council votes to reverse its approval of the grant.

I believe people have the absolute right to petition their government to change things they don't like. If the people of Santa Cruz want to get rid of the Bearcat, they need to petition the city council which took the action that allowed the Bearcat to come to Santa Cruz. Contact the mayor and city council members with your thoughts and attend the March 24 City Council meeting. They have the power to rescind the purchase. If this were a federal issue I'd be at the front of the line trying to correct whatever missteps were taken. But this is a local issue and needs to be corrected at the local level.

I hope that you will engage the people who can make this change and that however the city chooses to act it will do so with great transparency and communication to the citizens.

Sincerely,

SAM FARR
Member of Congress