Tuscaloosa meeting authorizes police to sign memorandum accepting donated sensory activation vehicle

At a Tuscaloosa City meeting, officials authorized the Tuscaloosa Police Department to sign a memorandum of understanding to accept a donated sensory activation vehicle from the local nonprofit Rooted Tuscaloosa.

The vehicle is intended to provide a quiet, controlled space at large public events — such as Alabama home games, fireworks displays and Halloween events — for people who experience sensory issues. "We were approached by a local nonprofit called Rooted Tuscaloosa who wished to donate a sensory activation vehicle to the Tuscaloosa Police Department for us to deploy to our large scale events such as Alabama home games, fireworks on the fourth, our Halloween events, things along those lines to provide a place for people that experience sensory issues," said Lieutenant Parker of the Tuscaloosa Police Department. "A nice calm place to go that they can go kinda calm down, center themselves, and go back to experiencing that event."

Meeting discussion described the vehicle as available for both children and adults who experience sensory challenges, including autism, post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety disorders. The transcript records a motion to authorize the department to sign the memorandum; the motion was seconded and passed on a voice vote with those present responding "aye." The transcript does not include a roll-call tally or the names of the members who moved and seconded the motion.

No purchase price, ongoing operating cost, insurance details or storage arrangements for the vehicle were given in the discussion, and the memorandum itself was not read into the record during the meeting. The transcript does not specify whether the memorandum imposes any conditions on deployment, staffing, liability, or a schedule for events.

The meeting adjourned after the action; a subsequent meeting date was announced as February 25 at 4:00 (time zone not specified in the record).