Some say the vandalism coincides with the likely loss of a public safety measure that would've put more officers on the street.
This is all that remains of a former Crown Victoria patrol car. Electrical wiring runs down the siding, the smell of burnt plastic penetrates the car. This violent act of arson happened right on Parlier Police Department property.
It's late Tuesday evening and a suspect is surveying the Parlier Police Department parking lot. Once the coast is clear, they smash in a window, throw in some sort of accelerator and torch the patrol car.
"To find out that one of our police vehicles has just been totaled to an arson, a deliberate act against the police department, makes it tough," said Parlier Police Chief David Cerda.
Cerda says his officers were busy tending to other calls when the suspect came onto police property -- this at a time when a public safety measure that would give the police and fire departments more money is likely to fail.
"Right now financially we're having a lot of challenges. So whether we can replace that and put another unit back into the fleet is still under consideration," said Cerda.
Julia Heringer works just across the street from the police department at Quail Run Apartments. CBH Property Management held a fundraiser for the city last week to encourage voters to approve Measure S. It's a measure that Heringer believes could've stopped incidents like this from taking place.
"We're not happy. We just had a fire yesterday that displaced a home, so it's not just police department but the fire department also," said Heringer.
The official vote counts haven't been recorded yet, so it's possible the measure could pass.
As for the patrol car, the police department is salvaging what it can. Investigators say pieces like the engine and the tires are salvageable but they'll probably just keep them for spare parts.
Cerda says it's really unclear what the next step is for the police department because of lack of funding.