SPRINGDALE : Police: New armored vehicle needed
Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/National/234792/
The Springdale Police Department wants to buy an armored truck to replace the Special Operations Team’s 22-yearold box truck that doesn’t stop high-powered bullets.
Police Capt. Bob Bersi, commander of the Special Operations Team, is looking at a $ 148, 000 tactical truck made of special armor that stops gunfire, up to a. 30-06 caliber rifle. Bersi on Tuesday pitched a proposal to the Capital Improvement Committee, which forwarded it to the City Council for a vote next Tuesday. Police hope to fund the truck through the city’s capital improvement fund, which is used for roads, buildings and large single purchases. The council can reject the department’s request. Though Alderman Jim Reed agreed to send the proposal to the full council, he said he’s not likely to vote for funding. “At this point, I don’t think we can afford it,” he said. The truck, sold by The Tactical Armored Group is made of a high-quality steel called AR 500 armor, Bersi said. The truck originally was built for the city of Plano, Texas, but was never purchased by the city because of “political turmoil,” Bersi said. The Special Operations Team would use the truck when executing drug warrants, in hostage cases and other high-risk situations, he said.
It has room for 10 of the team’s 16 members and has gun ports, a roof hatch and rear doors.
“The most important feature is the armor,” Bersi said before the meeting. “We’d use it in any hostile situation where there’s gunfire, and it would give us protection in a wide variety of situations.”
No one has shot at the team’s current vehicle, but suspects have been known to use powerful guns meant specifically to penetrate vehicle metal, he said.
The team’s current vehicle, a 1986 bread truck, is failing mechanically and doesn’t provide optimum protection from bullets, he said. The odometer on the vehicle, nicknamed “Bunny,” reads 289, 000 miles.
“It’s basically on its last leg,” Bersi said.
Police Chief Kathy O’Kelley, who presented the proposal to the capital committee Tuesday, said the old truck belches fumes into the rear compartment and has neither heat nor air conditioning.
Bersi said the City Council has expressed support for buying the armored truck. The team in June took council members on a training exercise in the old vehicle, and members gave Bersi the OK to pursue a new one, he said.
The department also is requesting $ 8, 800 to replace weapons personally owned by members of the Special Operations Team, and another $ 13, 600 for communications equipment for a total request of $ 171, 000.
“I think this will get us to where we need to be,” O’Kelley said. Information for this article was contributed by Richard Massey of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.