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Rescue vehicles double

by KEITH COUSINS/kcousins@cdapress.com
| August 29, 2014 9:00 PM

COEUR d'ALENE - This week's delivery of the Ballistic Engineered Armored Response Counter Attack Truck, or BearCat, to the sheriff's office, makes it the second such vehicle now owned by Kootenai County law enforcement agencies.

Post Falls Police Chief Scot Haug told The Press that his department's ballistic vehicle, the MaxxPro Plus, is very similar to the BearCat.

"Our vehicle is about the same length, but it sits up a little bit taller than the BearCat," Haug said of the vehicle, which was obtained in 2013. "But it's going to be very similar in what it offers as far as ballistic protection."

The department received the $658,000 vehicle at no cost through a federal program that has transferred more $5.1 billion in military equipment from the United States Army to local law enforcement agencies since 1997. The sheriff's office BearCat was purchased entirely with drug forfeiture funds for $335,000.

After the department got the vehicle, Haug said, a local company painted it for free, and they have put several thousand dollars into getting it ready.

"It's a rescue vehicle," Haug said. "If you had a school shooter or something like this incident we had up on the freeway with a guy shooting at our officers with assault rifles - those are the kind of situations where it would be used. It's almost like an insurance policy. You hope you never need it, but when you do need it you're glad you have it."

According to Haug, use of the vehicle reaches beyond his department.

"Right on the side of it it says 'regional resource,'" Haug said. "Our view is that Post Falls is a small community and we don't see that we're going to have a lot of need for it."

Since Post Falls received the MaxxPro Plus, Haug said law enforcement agencies in Spokane County have called for and used the vehicle.

"Kootenai County has called for it one time and we sent it over there," Haug said. "It's basically available to anyone who wants to use it, free of charge."

Coeur d'Alene Police Department Sgt. Christie Wood said although her department does not plan on adding a similar vehicle, interagency agreements would allow them to use one if needed.

The acquisition of the BearCat comes at a time when, at both a local and national level, questions are being raised about the amount of military equipment local law enforcement possesses.

"I think that the public should rest assured that it's not about the type of equipment we have, it's how we use it," Haug said.

With that in mind, Haug added the vehicle is not something his department "flaunts" or puts on display. It is kept in a secure location and only used in the event of a critical incident, he said.

"There needs to be trust that the agency will use it appropriately," Haug said. "If we are offered a piece of equipment for free and then there is a need for it in the community - how would I feel if an officer was killed and I turned that down? I'm hoping the public will trust that their police department will use this equipment appropriately. And if we don't they can call us on it."

When asked if he feels that the county needs more than one of these vehicles, Haug said while he can't say exactly what the county needs the vehicle for or how often it would be needed, his department has only used its MaxxPro once since receiving it.

The sheriff's office could not be reached for comment on Thursday.