LONGMONT — Longmont Sgt. Doug Ross said an armored vehicle would have come in handy as recently as June 2, when an armed, suicidal man barricaded himself in his home.
According to police reports, the man was inside the home with his disabled father, and the Longmont SWAT team was called out to try to help coax the man out. The volatile incident ended when the man inside the home apparently shot and killed himself.
He easily could have chosen to fire on officers.
The Longmont police and Boulder County Sheriff’s Office now have a civilian armored rescue vehicle, a Lenco Bearcat, that would have allowed officers to get closer to the scene. Ross said there are a multitude of opportunities for the police to use a bulletproof vehicle like the Bearcat, like getting closer to shooters or suspected explosive devices.
“It is something we have recognized as a need here,” he said. “We recognized we needed something better than nothing, and we had nothing.”
The Longmont police and the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office applied for a U.S. Department of Homeland Security grant that paid for the $273,000 vehicle. Ross noted that the rescue vehicle is intended to protect police and does not have any armaments on it.
The Bearcat is the smaller of two civilian armored vehicles offered by Lenco. Ross said the larger is the size of a box truck. Ross said plenty of neighboring agencies have similar vehicles, including Boulder, Fort Collins, Greeley, Adams County and Aurora.
Because the grant that paid for the Bearcat is federal, the vehicle will be available regionally to other agencies upon request. Longmont and Boulder County work closely together and have worked out mutual aid plans, Ross said.
The Bearcat can withstand gunfire up to .50 caliber and can protect occupants from explosive blasts or objects thrown at the vehicle, such as bottles or bricks, according to the sheriff’s office.
“As a civilian vehicle it (is) designed strictly for the safe transport of citizens and officers in dangerous situations,” said Boulder County Sheriff’s Sgt. Kevin Parker in a prepared statement.
The vehicle will be displayed for the media and public from 10 a.m. to noon Tuesday at Boulder County Sheriff’s Office Headquarters, 5600 Flatirons Parkway in Boulder.
Pierrette J. Shields can be reached at 303-684-5273 or pshields@times-call.com.
