The Stockton Police Department is buying two heavy-duty pickup trucks totaling $154,804 to help efforts to relocate unhoused people.
The City Council ratified the purchase of two Chevrolet Silverado three-quarter-ton pickups on Tuesday. The initial vote had been scheduled in March as part of an emergency purchase order.
The vehicles are needed “to assist with the transportation of an arrestee’s belongings and to aid community clean-ups,” the City Council was told in a briefing document. Police recently joined social service and maintenance workers in clearing massive amounts of debris while dismantling a longtime homeless encampment at Trinity Park.
The Police Department said its current patrol vehicles — mainly the police version of Ford Explorer SUVs — aren’t big enough for moving the belongings of unsheltered people.
One resident, Pat Barrett, urged the council to consider whether the money spent on the trucks would be better used to provide services for unhoused people.
But Deputy City Manager Chad Reed said the trucks would be “multifunctional,” valuable in a number of roles. For instance, they can tow any of the trailers used by the Police Department. They also are capable of off-road driving for tasks in rough terrain.
Deputy Police Chief Kyle Pierce told the council that besides moving unhoused persons’ belongings, the pickups will be used for such jobs as returning errant shopping carts back to stores and towing abandoned boats on trailers.