The Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office wants to buy an armored vehicle to respond to standoffs and other active scenes.
The sheriff’s office requested $400,000 for the vehicle during a Penobscot County Commissioners meeting June 5. If approved, the money would come from the county’s remaining federal American Rescue Plan Act funds.
The Sheriff’s Office’s special response team, which deals with barricaded people and scenes with active gunfire, would use the armored vehicle. There have been about 20 such incidents so far this year, Deputy Chief John Knappe said at the meeting.
There is an option for a five-year payment plan for the vehicle, according to the meeting’s agenda packet. The company, Lenco, offers 10 models. The sheriff’s office is looking at one of the BearCat models, Penobscot County Commissioner Dave Marshall said Thursday.
Other agencies have vehicles that appear “military looking,” but that’s not the style the sheriff’s office plans to get, Sheriff Troy Morton said at the meeting.
Some people view the vehicles as “attack vehicles,” but they are not, Marshall said. The vehicles can be life-saving, he added.
“It’s a safety vehicle, it’s a protection vehicle for officers,” Marshall said.
Knappe acknowledged at the June 5 meeting that people have strong opinions and not everyone likes armored vehicles. Using armored vehicles for routine police work can escalate situations and is not typically necessary, the American Civil Liberties Union has said previously.
“They are designed to mitigate risks,” Knappe said. “That is the purpose of those teams. It’s not to expand risk. It’s not to make risks higher. They’re there to mitigate.”
Earlier this year, the sheriff’s office arrested a murder suspect from New York City and the next day officers had to go to his house, where children were present. Officers were exposed as they went up the driveway, Knappe said, citing it as an example of when an armored vehicle would be beneficial for the response team.
If the commissioners grant the request, it likely won’t be fully funded through ARPA because there are requests from other county departments, Chairman Andre Cushing said at the meeting.
Other requests from the sheriff’s office included additional portable radios, automated external defibrillators to put in cruisers and new night vision goggles.
