Armored truck now in sheriff’s fleet

Designed to protect soldiers in war zones, the Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle like the one received last week by the Tippecanoe County Sheriff’s Office, is more commonly showing up at local police agencies.

Standing outside the hulking MRAP truck, Tippecanoe County Sheriff Barry Richard said, “It’s just a truck with armor on it. There’s no special weapons on it. It’s just a truck with bulletproof armor on it that is going to allow us to keep our deputies safe.”

The MRAP arrived April 29 from Pulaski County, which had two, Tippecanoe County sheriff’s Chief Deputy Steve Hartman said of the armored personnel carriers developed during the Afghanistan and Iraqi wars.

Hartman said the sheriff’s office has been working for about six weeks to get the MRAP, and Richard noted it required considerable paperwork.

Richard envisioned the truck being used as a shield for deputies in the rare instance that deputies respond to a standoff or a hostage situation.

“It’s just a responsible thing for us to do to provide the resources for the deputies and our public,” he said.

Besides, as Richard said, “How often does a $412,000 vehicle given to you free come along?”

While the vehicle is ready for duty and the Special Response Team is always ready to respond, deputies still need to be trained on how to drive the truck, which includes a top turret.

This MRAP becomes the second such vehicle in Tippecanoe County law enforcement agencies. West Lafayette police was the first to take possession of a MRAP. They removed the turret and painted it black. The sheriff office’s MRAP retains its tan color.

Given riots in major cities over the past eight months, the truck might spark more debate about the militarization of local police departments. Richard dismissed that, explaining the reason for the truck is protect deputies who might find themselves in direct fire from a suspect.

“You got to think, ‘How can you do your job the safest for the deputies and for the community?’ ” Richard said.

“Our hope and best scenario is we never use it.”

Surplus military equipment, including MRAPs, are obtained after approval from the Law Enforcement Support Office of the federal Defense Logistics Agency. Most of the military surplus received by law enforcement agencies comes in the form of small arms, according to a database published June 8, 2014, by the Journal & Courier.

The only other surplus military equipment the Tippecanoe County Sheriff’s office has received in the past was a 5-ton truck used in heavy snows or when the Wabash River floods North River Road, Tippecanoe County Sheriff Maj. Charlie Williams said. The department already had M16 rifles before the military started distributing surplus weapons to police agencies, Williams said.