Bearcat Thoughts

Now that the matter of the Bearcat has been decided, I guess it’s safe to offer some of my thoughts. All along I felt I didn’t have the knowledge to second guess the chief on if the Bearcat was an integral tool for our police department to have in order be able to respond to extraordinary circumstances. My thoughts and concerns revolve around the process and questions left unanswered. 

I would have much preferred to hear why there can’t be (or isn’t) cooperation between our police department and the State police. I would have liked to hear if it would have been possible to work out an arrangement with the National Guard to have access to one of their vehicles. I would have liked to have heard what the actual costs of maintenance, training, and the costs of manpower are when the vehicle is utilized in an emergency situation. And I would have liked to have heard what specifically the chief is doing to prevent the militarization of the police force from infiltrating into their day to day activities.

So why when asked if we had access to another departments Bearcat, did the chief find it necessary for our police department to go to Gilford and not Concord? Why wasn’t there a follow up question from any of our city councilors asking why not the State Police? 

When the chief told us there would be no cost to Concord accept for a $3000 compact fee, why didn’t any councilors ask, what does it cost? And why wasn’t there information showing why and how often these type of vehicles are utilized in the 20 community compact?  

Why weren’t we given the opportunity to decide if the true cost of this vehicle justified us having our own Bearcat or would it have made more sense to share with the State? How would sharing with the State effect the other communities in the compact? 

I’m confident that had the chief not bungled the grant application the replacement of the Peacekeeper with the Bearcat would have barely raised an eyebrow. I’m confident that had there been factual integrity on the original grant application our community would have willingly signed on to the purchase of the Bearcat and the costs associated with it. 

But the facts are the process was bungled.  The questions  concerning the militarization of our police force only came about because of the information the chief included on the grant application.  The concerns of the militarization of our police force were a direct result of assertions the chief was forced to retract from the application. This was a self inflicted wound.

This self inflicted injury only gives legitimacy to those who fear that the government is intruding into every aspect of their personal lives. And to cap it off we have Councilor Blanchard looking to exact a pound of flesh from the School Board because as an independent board, they wouldn’t do the bidding of our mayor. 

While Concord is the only community in the state that has an independent school board that has no direct accountability to the public through either direct votes on the budget or city council oversight, to use the issue of the Bearcat as the impetus to address this issue is nothing more then intimidation.

And while many of us would like to see the establishment of a charter commission to review and revise our city charter, let’s be sure we go down that road for the right reasons.

This isn’t the first time our city has made factual errors when applying for grants. While the chief acknowledged his mistake and took the time to revise the grant application for the Bearcat, the same can’t be said for our city engineer when he applied for the Complete Streets grant. But unfortunately the lure of ‘free’ federal money gets in the way of rational thought and factual integrity.

Let’s hope that our city administration and those who will be serving on future city councils have learned something from this. The double whammy of making things up to push through the Complete Streets Project and the purchase of the Bearcat, should have a profound effect on those who make the decisions. Tell the truth and folks will trust you. Make stuff up and lose the trust of those you represent and you will have a hard time of ever convincing them that you have their best interests in your heart. 

Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me. The city administration and our city council has no one to blame for losing the trust of our community except those looking back at them in their mirrors.