SLO County residents criticize Sheriff's Office decision to buy another armored vehicle
By Bulbul Rajagopal[
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The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office plan to purchase a second armored vehicle called the Lenco BearCat drew criticism from residents concerned about the county racking up a $38 million budget deficit and the federal administration's crackdown on undocumented immigrants.
"I'm pro-justice and police when they hunt crooks but anti-militarization when they hunt hardworking immigrants and protesters," Templeton resident Cindy Lewis said at the Aug. 19 Board of Supervisors meeting. "The chance of an event that requires more than one BearCat is extremely remote in San Luis County. Reallocate those funds to something actually needed."
With 1st District Supervisor John Peschong absent, supervisors voted 4-0 in favor of the Sheriff's Office applying for an almost $218,000 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant. But the BearCat is expected to cost $433,000. The Sheriff's Office is working with the County Administrative Office to find more funding sources to foot the remaining $215,000.
Lewis' comment is one of many directed at the Board of Supervisors. The criticism comes on the heels of county residents calling out supervisors at their previous meeting for approving a $316,000 U.S. Department of Homeland Security grant for the Sheriff's Office.
"As residents of Adelaida Road, we'd much prefer these resources be used for proper traffic enforcement, e.g., passing on Adelaida Road, reducing excessive speed on Lake Nacimiento Drive," residents Kate Morgan and Louis Hruska wrote in a letter to supervisors. "It is also necessary to address the severe littering problem on Lake Road as well as on our rural roads such as Adelaida. We hate looking at all of the litter and are embarrassed that key arteries for our essential tourism industry look as bad as many of them do."
Others pointed out the increase to the Sheriff-Coroner budget in the name of public protection and at the expense of health services.
"We are taking millions to the Sheriff's department while the Paso Robles Clinic's cost was merely over $400,000," Atascadero resident Lee Perkins wrote. "This cut was approved in despite what you all knew was happening in Washington—cuts to Medicaid, etc.—particularly women's health. What about health safety for those with less?"
According to the county staff report, the existing BearCat belonging to the Sheriff's Office doesn't have the same capabilities as the new model it's vying for. A second vehicle would help deputies respond to emergencies in "dynamic and diverse" landscapes like Montaña de Oro, the Salinas Riverbed, California Valley, Cuyama, Creston, Pozo, and Lopez Lake.
Sheriff Ian Parkinson clarified to supervisors that the BearCat isn't used by the military. Manufacturer Lenco makes the "defensive tool, not offensive tool" for law enforcement all over the country, he said.
"Just as my uniform is not military even though the appearance is, the BearCat might appear to be military but that's not what it is," Parkinson said. "Our patrol cars are not bulletproof. So, any day a deputy or police office locally goes on a call, they're subject to getting shot at. We have had that happen in the not too recent past."
The Sheriff added that his office uses the almost 20-year-old BearCat roughly six times a year on average, and deputies undergo monthly training to operate it.
Parkinson stressed the need for another BearCat by mentioning an active shooting in Paso Robles in 2020 when Deputy Nick Dreyfus was shot in the face. Dreyfus survived but the injury prevented him from returning to active duty.
Over the course of a two-day manhunt, the Sheriff's Office loaned its BearCat to the regional SWAT team. A SWAT officer then got shot in the leg by the shooter after he exited the BearCat to search around the Salinas Riverbed.
"They immediately went to the BearCat for cover and protection," Parkinson said. "They didn't know where the shooter was. If they had not had that bulletproof vehicle out there, with five or six people out there, we probably would have lost or at least had additional officers injured in the shooting."
The county staff report also referenced a barricaded felony incident in July 2025 when deputies only had access to one armored vehicle. They were forced to use patrol vehicles as cover.
Third District Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg told Parkinson that out of concern for immigrants, officials would contact the Sheriff's Office if they noticed any "suspicious" use of the BearCat.
"I think it's important for the public to know that ... you're following the law, you're not working with ICE, that it's against the law for you to work with ICE without the federal warrant," Ortiz-Legg told Parkinson. Δ
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