Sheriff's office debuts BearCat
<p>Lieutenant Stuart Miller walks by the Kootenai County Sheriff’s office recently purchased 2014 Lenco BearCat at a media information session on Wednesday morning. The sheriff’s office purchased the BearCat for $335,000 from drug forfeiture funds.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE - The one thing missing from the armored vehicle now owned by the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office is a logo that says "paid for by drug dealers," said Undersheriff Dan Mattos.
Mattos spoke Wednesday, during a media tour the sheriff's office held to show off the county's new BearCat - an acronym for Ballistic Engineered Armored Response Counter-Attack Truck - purchased with drug forfeiture funds. Sheriff Ben Wolfinger said the $335,000 vehicle will primarily be used by the multi-agency, Kootenai County SWAT team.
"It's going to be a shared resource, " Wolfinger said. "My goal here is to keep our people safe. If we keep our people safe, then they can keep the public safe."
Wolfinger added that the vehicle can also be used for search and rescue operations in the county. The BearCat's infrared cameras and sensors will give deputies the tools they need to locate missing individuals quickly and safely.
It's the versatility of the BearCat, Wolfinger said, which led to the decision to purchase the vehicle instead of pursuing a military surplus vehicle.
"The MRAPs (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected), which are very common now in the military surplus, are much bigger and almost twice the weight," Wolfinger said. "Places we have to go in the county can't always handle that. We wanted something that's more on a truck frame we can use throughout the county."
Maintenance was another selling point, Wolfinger said. The ballistic vehicle is built using Ford components, which matches the majority of the office's patrol vehicles.
"Our shop is set up for that kind of work," Wolfinger said. "We looked for something we could maintain here locally and not have to farm out."
The BearCat holds 10 people and Wolfinger said it would replace a 1989 armored car/coin hauler which was modified for use as a transport vehicle.
"It has 300,000 miles on it and it's worn out. It's not made for that kind of protection for our officers," Wolfinger said. "We've wanted a piece of equipment like this to keep our team safer for years. But it just wasn't in the cards because it's such a big chunk of money. Being able to use drug seizure money is a great asset."
When asked about the growing national and local concern regarding the militarization of police departments, Wolfinger responded by reiterating that the BearCat is there to keep his deputies safe.
"We're not warriors; we're guardians," Wolfinger said. "Our job is to guard the public, and in order to do that we must first guard ourselves. If we're hurt or injured we can't help anybody else."