Lenco
The Dane County Sheriff's Office will likely be getting a new BearCat armored vehicle in 2017.
A Dane County committee unanimously approved purchasing a Lenco BearCat for the sheriff’s department. Just don’t call it a “tank,” Chief Deputy Jeff Hook told the Public Protection and Judiciary Committee at its Nov. 22 meeting.
“This is an armored vehicle,” he said. “With all of my heart and soul, I believe this a tool that is necessary for Dane County to have to protect the deputies who are out on high-risk calls. And the citizens that we need to remove from situations that are very high-risk.”
The armored rescue vehicle is being paid for with a $225,000 grant from the Wisconsin Division of Emergency Management. The vehicle will replace an older BearCat model currently owned by the department.
Dane County Sheriff Dave Mahoney says there is a “significant difference” between a BearCat and the Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle used by the Madison Police Department.
“This is a civilian, armored vehicle. So it’s not a military MRAP, like the city has,” says Mahoney. “We were granted a military MRAP last year but the county board chose not to accept because they didn’t want law enforcement to become militarized.”
“If you look at the city’s MRAP, it very much looks like a military vehicle that has a gun turret on top,” says Hook. “I don’t think the sheriff’s office wants to put forth the image that we’re coming into a [situation] — even high-risk calls — with something that does resemble a tank or military vehicle.”
Madison Police Department
Madison Police have been criticized for acquiring an armored truck in 2013. It is used primarily by the department’s SWAT unit.
Dane County supervisor Carousel Bayrd, who serves on the Public Protection and Judiciary Committee, says a decommissioned military vehicle “serves no purpose” in local enforcement. But she is okay with purchasing a BearCat, in part because it looks less intimidating than a MRAP.
“We don’t need a tank. And an MRAP really looks like a tank. If you were to see that go down the street you’d be like, ‘Wow. Are we at war?’” says Bayrd. “When you use an MRAP there’s going to be media footage. There’s going to be people witnessing it. You don’t want to make an item more intimidating than it has to be. Even against a shooter.”
At the committee meeting, citizen Mary Rowe did voice concern over purchasing the BearCat. She testified that while grant money may pay for the purchase of the vehicle, it will not cover operating expenses.
“One imagines that there is cost in keeping a BearCat. I don’t want to pay for parking it, painting it or maintaining it,” said Rowe. “But more of a concern, is that if you have a hammer everything looks like a nail. I also have the understanding that — for some unknown reason — Madison already has a tank. I would think we could borrow if we needed to. I just think this is a really bad idea.”
Bayrd acknowledges that a segment of population has “an inherent distrust” of law enforcement. And it’s a legitimate concern that the BearCat could be used inappropriately.
“There are members of the community that do not trust the police. That don’t trust that we aren’t militarizing our police force or using aggressive tactics,” says Bayrd. “But I trust Sheriff Dave Mahoney. And Sheriff Dave Mahoney says we are only using this vehicle in shooter-involved emergencies. That is his track record. That is what he has shown. And that is what he will continue to do.”
The BearCat purchase needs to be approved by the full Dane County Board of Supervisors.
