Norman City Council removed the proposal to vote on the purchase of an armored all-purpose BearCat rescue vehicle and other police equipment for the Norman Police Department from Tuesday's meeting agenda.
Tiffany Vrska, the city’s chief communications officer and Ward 7 Councilmember Stephen Holman wrote to OU Daily that a number of council members, including Holman, requested the removal of the item from the agenda. The item will instead be placed on the next study session agenda and for further discussion on whether or not it should be on the meeting agenda at the end of November or December, according to Holman.
The main reason council members asked the item be moved for further discussion was that there had been no previous discussion about this list of items before Friday afternoon, the fact that it is over $1 million in spending from a “controversial funding source” and the purchase of a BearCat being a highly contentious issue already, according to Holman.
This item was a proposal for a purchase of $1,139,088 in equipment and training for the Norman Police Department. This included the $333,000 BearCat vehicle from armored police vehicle manufacturer Lenco Industries, Inc, $20,000 for operation training of the BearCat, $10,000 for four E-bikes, $20,000 for four tactical bomb tech tool kits and $20,000 for two ballistic shields and two blankets, according to the previous council meeting agenda.
Norman Mayor Larry Heikkila, Ward 3 Councilmember Kelly Lynn and Ward 5 Councilmember Rarchar Tortorello decided to expedite the item to this week’s meeting due to recent events, according to the previous agenda.
This item proposes appropriating over $1 million from the Seizures and Restitution Fund, which will use civil asset forfeiture to purchase equipment for special events, critical incidents, search and rescue events and safety equipment for the SWAT team and hazardous devices unit, according to the previous agenda.
In an earlier interview with OU Daily, Holman said this item was approved through a rule of three, which allows three council members to immediately move an agenda item for discussion without bringing it before the council.
“I knew that (the BearCat discussion) was probably going to be coming forward, but I didn't expect it to be just thrown on without any discussion,” Holman said. “It's a pretty big deal, obviously, so throwing it on without discussion is going to make for a contentious council meeting tomorrow.”
Events like the hostage situation at the Nextep building in 2014, the Bavinger House gunfire incident in 2011 and multiple weather-related emergencies were handled with the assistance of other public safety partners, but the police department has found it more difficult to do so, according to the previous agenda.
NPD officers used the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office’s armored vehicle for safety during an Oct. 11-12 incident where a man allegedly fired at officers after breaking into a house, according to the Norman Transcript. It was the second time in the past 18 months that NPD requested assistance from a neighboring agency’s armored vehicle, according to the Transcript.
In 2015, the Norman City Council and Norman Police Department faced controversy for proposing the purchase of a BearCat. Holman, who has been on council since 2013, said although he does not agree with the civil asset forfeiture part of the proposal or the need for a BearCat, he said some of the items listed could be beneficial.
“If it's believed by the majority of Council and the police department and the public, that these items — all of them or some of them or whatever — are necessary for the police department to have, then the council should consider prioritizing general fund surplus dollars to use to make these purchases,” Holman said.
