Billionaire's gift brings Cybertruck police fleet to Vegas

The nation’s largest police fleet of Tesla Cybertrucks is set to begin patrolling the streets of Las Vegas in November thanks to a donation from a U.S. tech billionaire, raising concerns about the blurring of lines between public and private interests.

- JESSICA HILL

LAS VEGAS police now have a fleet of 10 black-and-white Tesla Cybertrucks.

(Ty O'Neil Associated Press)

“Welcome to the future of policing,” Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill said during a recent news conference, surrounded by the Cybertrucks while drones hovered overhead and a police helicopter circled above him.

The fleet of 10 black-and-white Cybertrucks with flashing lights and sirens are wrapped with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s logo. About 400 officers have been trained to operate the trucks, which will use public charging stations.

The all-electric vehicles are equipped with shotguns, shields and ladders and additional battery capacity to better handle the demands of a police department, McMahill said.

The donation has raised concerns from government oversight experts about private donors’ influence on public departments and the boost to the Tesla brand.

The department is the latest U.S. city to turn to Tesla models even as Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company has faced blowback because of his work earlier in the year to advance the president's political agenda and downsize the federal government.

McMahill noted the trucks will help keep officers safer because they are bulletproof, while Metro’s other squad cars are not. Each Cybertruck is valued between $80,000 and $115,000 and will be used to respond to calls like barricades and shootings in addition to regular patrols.

The Cybertrucks also offer unique benefits such as a shorter turn radius, he said.

“They look a little bit different than the patrol cars that we have out there, but they represent something far bigger than just a police car,” the sheriff said. “They represent innovation. They represent sustainability, and they represent our continued commitment to serve this community with the best tools that we have available, safely, efficiently and responsibly.”