How Las Vegas police ended up with a fleet of free Tesla Cybertrucks | Tesla

The Las Vegas police department rolled out a new fleet of tactical vehicles to city streets last month: all Tesla Cybertrucks. Covered in black-and-white vinyl, the steel cars come equipped with warning lights and flashing sirens on the roof. They look like heavier, more boxy versions of the traditional police car. Las Vegas is the first city in the United States to give its officers access to a battalion of futuristic trucks that have become synonymous with the world’s richest man, Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

“These represent something much bigger than a police car,” Sheriff Kevin McMahill said in a recent speech. press conference Showcasing the tools. “They represent innovation.”

News of 10 electric Cybertrucks first appeared in Las Vegas in February at McMahill published images “They’re a pain in the ass” about the cars in Another police department to mail It was stated on Instagram that the fleet was “donated entirely by an anonymous supporter.”

Rumors were circulating about who the donor might be. This comes at a time when Tesla’s sales are falling and Musk is trashing the federal government’s payroll as head of the so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge). The donation had been in the works since the month after Donald Trump won the election, according to police department emails obtained by the Guardian through a public records request.

“As we have previously discussed, the use of these tools would represent a groundbreaking approach to modern policing,” Mike Gennaro, chief of staff for the Las Vegas metropolitan police department, wrote in a Dec. 1, 2024, email to the donor.

The mystery donor turned out to be Ben Horowitz, co-founder of Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, and his wife, Felicia Horowitz. They emerged just days after McMahill posted the images on social media. Horowitz’s firm, one of Silicon Valley’s best-known companies, invests in various technology companies and has spent $400 million to help Musk take over Twitter in 2022.

Reacting to the news, Musk responded to a post on the subject on X with an emoji wearing sunglasses.

Athar Haseebullah, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, said police use of these Cybertrucks appeared to be Musk’s approval.

“I know LVMPD values ​​vehicles that look cool around and project an air of modernity and sophistication. But the reality is that’s not what they want for their communities,” Haseebullah said. “They want to feel safer. I don’t know that the Tesla Cybertruck makes anyone feel safer.”

Other cities around the U.S. have also faced pushback over the possible addition of Teslas to government-owned fleets. Baltimore had promised to spend $5 million on Tesla sedans for city employees in June 2024, but by March that promise had been broken. I gave up on these plans. Authorities confronted each other in Washington’s King County reaction from citizens for purchasing 120 Tesla vehicles for the city’s car sharing program. And in a handful of small towns in California where officers are testing Tesla sedans for law enforcement work, department chiefs say the vehicles not suitable for modern policing.

But the Las Vegas police department is optimistic. McMahill said zero taxpayer dollars were spent on the Cybertrucks because they were donations.

mystery donors

The Horowitzes live in Las Vegas and are long-time supporters of the city’s police department. Cybertruck donations included 10 vehicles for patrolling and a “sting guard” for special weapons and tactics (Swat), according to emails obtained by the Guardian. Donation, that is. estimated to be around $2.7 million It was completed in late January 2025 and transferred to a law enforcement charity called Behind the Blue.

“Police morale will skyrocket when these arrive at the substations,” Gennaro wrote to Horowitz as he prepared the donation logistics. “And we will use them as a tool to keep morale high and officers productive.”

The police department waited nearly 10 months for the Cybertrucks to undergo upgrades by a company called UpFit, based in Hawthorne, Calif., that specializes in adapting Teslas for police work. Patrol vehicles come with barrier shields, ladders, radios and other tactical equipment, according to the police department. Upgrade details and pricing have been edited into public records.

The Swat tool will be used in situations involving “barricaded suspects and hostage situations,” according to internal emails.

Las Vegas police asked UpFit to remove Tesla’s “beast” mode from all 11 vehicles. Beast mode is a setting that Tesla says allows the Cybertruck to accelerate from zero to 60 mph in 2.6 seconds and reach a top speed of 130 mph.

Horowitz has made several technology-focused donations to the Las Vegas police department over the past few years, totaling nearly $8 million. These include license plate readers from Flock, drones from Skydio, and an AI tool that assists with 911 calls from Ready911. These three products were created by businesses in Andreessen Horowitz’s investment portfolio. According to a report from TechCrunch. The company is not an investor in Tesla.

In response to TechCrunch’s report, Horowitz wrote: blog post Emphasizing the need for public safety, he quoted rapper Nas as saying: “You may hate me now, but I won’t stop now.”

Horowitz and Tesla did not respond to the Guardian’s requests for comment.

Cybertruck’s troubles

Musk says Cybertruck’s stainless steel body is “doomsday proof” and withstand bullets And arrows. While promoting the vehicle in 2019, he had one of his employees throw a metal ball at the car’s window to show that it was “a really solid truck, not a fake tough one.” The window shattered.

Cybertrucks have been on public roads for two years. They have dedicated fans, but sales are declining and they are banned from the European market due to pedestrian safety issues. In the third quarter of this year, Tesla sold only 5,385 Cybertrucks, down 63% from the same period last year. By comparison, sales of the Ford F-150, a similar full-size electric truck, rose nearly 40% in the third quarter.

Part of the lackluster sales are due to Musk’s opposition during his time at Doge. Last winter’s “Tesla Takedown” protests were aimed at getting people to sell their cars, and a significant amount of insults and violence were directed specifically at Cybertrucks. Vandals across the country spray-painted swastikas on pickup trucks, and in Seattle someone set fire to four of the vehicles, leaving them engulfed in flames.

Cybertrucks have had a surprising number of recalls in the last two years. The 10 recalls included issues such as side panels that were prone to blowing off while driving, headlights that were too bright and a gas pedal that accelerated uncontrollably. The most recent recall, issued on Oct. 30, occurred because the truck’s light bar was prone to falling off and posing a danger to other vehicles.

“Why didn’t they choose another type of vehicle?” asked Haseebullah of the ACLU of Nevada. “Why would Tesla be more efficient than Ford for police?”

The Las Vegas police department said it was handling those recalls before putting the Cybertrucks on patrol last month. According to Sheriff McMahill, operating these trucks means having the “most technologically advanced police department on the planet.”

“These trucks are high-performance and they’re built tough,” McMahill said, echoing Ford’s “Built tough” slogan. “Cops will look pretty cool in them too.”