Montgomery County Police Obtained New Armored Vehicle in July

Department of Defense provides free 'life-safety vehicle'

August 20, 2014 10:10 a.m.

Montgomery County police are being relatively mum about the armored vehicle that the department received from the Department of Defense.

According to an information bulletin provided to Bethesda Beat, the department received a “life-safety vehicle” free of charge last month as part of the defense department’s surplus program, also known as the Excess Property Program.

“It is jointly used by our department and the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Squad… This specific vehicle is new to us and has yet to be used but officers have been trained in its use. The vehicle is not armed and is used to protect its occupants,” the department bulletin said.

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Police did not provide any photos or details about the vehicle, such as its make, model or initial cost and have not yet responded to follow-up questions about the vehicle after sending the bulletin Tuesday afternoon.

The police response to ongoing protests in Ferguson, Mo., over the Aug. 9 shooting of Mike Brown, an unarmed African-American teen, by a white officer has sparked new interest in the militarization of local police forces—frequently with surplus equipment provided by the Pentagon. Ferguson police have used armored vehicles, tear gas, high-pitched sound emitting devices and other measures to quell protests over the past two weeks. 

The New York Times has published a map, last updated Aug. 15, that depicts the proliferation of military equipment to local police forces in the United States. According to the map, Montgomery County received 22 night vision goggles and 12 assault rifles through the program. There is no mention of the new armored vehicle.

If accurate, the amount of equipment is much less than neighboring jurisdictions. For example, Howard County’s police department has received 524 pistols, 191 assault rifles, 24 shotguns and one armored vehicle through the program, while Prince George’s County received 674 assault rifles, 64 pistols, 39 shotguns and two armored vehicles, according to the Times map.

The department memo about the life-safety vehicle did include information about the county’s two other armored vehicles. The two vehicles are smaller in size and are only used in hostage or barricade situations, active shooter events or bomb/ explosive events, according to the memo.

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Police said the two armored vehicles are not used for crowd control or in protest situations, but “the department has used the smaller, armored vehicles effectively” for the three types of situations for which the vehicles have been deployed over the past 20 years.

One of these vehicles is a BearCat armored police tactical vehicle, which police have used in the past during the annual “Santa Ride.”

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