BERGEN COUNTY — Bergen County Executive Kathleen Donovan is at odds with Sheriff Michael Saudino over his plans to bring two MRAPs (mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles) to the county under a Department of Defense program that makes them available to law-enforcement agencies for free, the Record reported.

Jeanne Baratta, Donovan's chief of staff, characterized the 49,600-pound hulks as "combat vehicles," and questioned why they were needed in Bergen County.

John McCann, an attorney for the Sheriff's Office, said the MRAPs could be used by the county SWAT team, executing high-risk warrants or transporting high-risk prisoners. David Ganz, chairman of the Board of Chosen of Freeholders, which endorsed Saudino's plans, said he had "no concerns about the vehicles at all," since they are being given for free and can be maintained through the use of forfeiture funds.

Hundreds of towns and cities have received MRAPs from the Pentagon over the past year and a half, Yahoo News reported. Law enforcement leaders say the equipment is necessary to respond to violent emergency events like school shootings.

Related Coverage:

• Armored vehicles at the center of latest Bergen conflict | The Record



• As wars wind down, small-town police inherit armored vehicles | Yahoo News

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