California Cops Show Off Absurd New Cybertruck With Music From Terminator Movies

Police in the city of Irvine, California, released a new promotional video Tuesday to show off their new Tesla Cybertruck. The video is every bit as cringey as you’d expect, but there are a few details we weren’t really expecting. For starters, the new Cybertruck is only going to be used for the D.A.R.E. anti-drug program rather than as a patrol car. And, perhaps more oddly, the promo video uses music from the Terminator movie franchise.

“The Irvine Police Department (IPD) is excited to unveil what we believe is the first police Tesla Cybertruck in the nation,” the department said in posts to X and Facebook.

“The truck will support our Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program and community outreach efforts. While the fully equipped vehicle won’t be used as a patrol car, it can respond to emergencies and assist the community when needed,” the statement continued.

Irvine Police first announced it was getting a Cybertruck in July, not long after reports trickled out the previous month that a company called Unplugged Performance in Hawthorne, California, was making a big push to equip cops in Southern California with Tesla tech. Hawthorne is a small municipality just south of Los Angeles where SpaceX and Tesla have large facilities.

“For over three decades, our DARE officers have driven attention-grabbing and one-of-a-kind vehicles that never fail to turn heads and excite students. IPD believes in the continual education of students and is one of only two DARE programs in the entire state,” the department said.

D.A.R.E. was founded in 1983, and even though it’s not as common in schools these days, some kids are still getting the same ineffective anti-drug messaging, despite the fact that studies show it doesn’t work.

“IPD passionately seeks unique and innovative ways to connect with our community and the youth of Irvine” the department said. “Officers on horseback, working with a support K9, or driving a unique vehicle such as the Cybertruck start positive conversations and promote community interaction. We are thrilled to introduce this vehicle to our community and will be hosting pop-up events in the coming weeks so you can take photos and meet our officers.”

Again, the new promotional video is all set to music from Terminator, which gives the video a very eerie feeling. They know the bad guy in the second movie is dressed up as a cop, right? And that the movies are actually about how cops are bad? Its director said as much in the 2010 book The Futurist: The Life and Films of James Cameron by Rebecca Keegan.

“The Terminator films are not really about the human race getting killed off by future machines,” Cameron is quoted as saying. “They’re about us losing touch with our own humanity and becoming machines, which allows us to kill and brutalize each other.”

“Cops think of all non-cops as less than they are, stupid, weak, and evil,” Cameron continued. “They dehumanize the people they are sworn to protect and desensitize themselves in order to do that job.”

Questions emailed to Irvine Police about the department’s acquisition of the Cybertruck didn’t immediately receive a response. Gizmodo will update this post if we hear back.