MRAP

One of the Mine Resistant Ambush Proof vehicle expected to be sent to a county in metro Detroit, according to the Military's 1033 Program.

(Courtesy | 1033 program)

Fourteen Michigan police agencies are on a list for expressing an interest in a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle from the U.S. military, according to a spokesman for the program that puts police into former military vehicles.

Saginaw Police Chief Bob Ruth said his agency was among those that sent tracked armored vehicles back to the military in December after an executive order by President Barack Obama. They were given the first chance to be put on the list to get an MRAP.

The Saginaw Police Department sent back the rarely-used Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) and is working to make a request before city council to approve getting the new vehicle, Ruth said.

Here is a list of Michigan police agencies expressing interest in an MRAP as of Dec. 21, 2015, according to the 1033 program:

Saginaw Police Department

Highland Park Police Department

Oakland County Sheriff

Wayne County Sheriff

Niles Police Department

Macomb County Sheriff

East Lansing Police Department

Genesee County Sheriff

Westland Police Department

Kalamazoo County Sheriff

St. Clair Shores Police Department

Battle Creek Police Department

Wyoming Police Department

Novi Police Department

Sterling Heights Police Department

Mt. Morris Township Police Department

"Expressing an interest does not indicate that the required paperwork has necessarily been submitted or approved," 1033 Program contact Larry Goerge said.

The Saginaw department received the APC carrier from the military in 2006 and it was used on scene twice, both situations with a barricaded gunman where shots had been fired, Ruth said. The gunman surrendered in both instances.

Saginaw Police Department stickers were removed from the side of the APC before it left Saginaw and was shipped in December to Grayling, where there is a National Guard training facility, Ruth said.

The APC and other tracked vehicles will be used as target practice at Camp Grayling, Goerge said.

The MRAP could be useful if a gunman situation happens, Ruth said, though he hopes the need will never arise.

He said he plans to keep it parked indoors and believes it will require minimal maintenance.

Beyond the 14 agencies on the "shown interest" list, MRAPs have already been approved for Macomb and Oakland counties.

'Not the equipment, but how we use it'

Battle Creek Chief of Police Jim Blocker said his department has had a MRAP in service for several years, and it is brought out to for use 10 to 15 times a year, the chief estimated.

He said the MRAP is a useful tool and calls the military sourcing that sometimes brings controversy about the vehicles is "a distraction."

"It's just matter of where we got it," he said. "Using demilitarized equipment, it's not so much the equipment, but how we use it."

The MRAP, which is about 10 or 12 years old, is only typically for an incident involving a weapon, implied or seen, he said.

"When we do field it, we've found every time we use the MRAP it's a force multiplier," he said. "It shuts the scene down and the incident down within 30 minutes.

"There's something about that vehicle pulling up to a building or a house," he said. "I assume people make a calculated risk and decide, saying, 'I don't know what's in that thing but I don't want any part of it."

He did not know why the department was on the 1033's current list, but said the department may have made a request for an MRAP and would get rid of the older vehicle if they receive a new one.

"The 1033 Program is a great program as long as we use it responsibly," he said.

Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said Obama decided "tracked vehicles were too intimidating," but it was a "ready-shoot-aim" approach "based on perception, not reality."

"The track-style personnel carrier is actually smaller than the vehicle were getting, so if the purpose of this was to be less intimidating, I don't know how that works."

The sheriff sent his tracked vehicle to Camp Grayling, where it was to be put in a line with the other vehicles and destroyed in a blaze of practice fire from aircraft.

A line of Armored Personnel Carriers taken from Michigan police agencies in 2015 and sent to Camp Grayling, where they were to be used for target practice.

"They're going to be destroyed," Bouchard said, "which again, is a big waste."

The sheriff who sent his MRAP back

A few miles across town from the Saginaw Police Department, Saginaw County Sheriff Federspiel's agency received an MRAP from the military in early 2014, only to send it back later that year.

The 19-ton MRAP was then sent to the Lapeer County Sheriff's Department, where it remains.

Saginaw County Sheriff's MRAP mine resistant ambush proof vehicle 12 Gallery: Saginaw County Sheriff's MRAP mine resistant ambush proof vehicle

"The problem with the MRAP is it takes special personnel to drive it, you need special training, it's damaging to the roads, it's so heavy," Federspiel told The Saginaw News in January 2016. "It needs to be started and run. It cost a lot in fuel. On top of that, where do you park it, how do you maintain it without parts? It was very costly."

The sheriff said he could not immediately provide an estimate of the costs.

Brad Devereaux is a reporter for MLive.com. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Google+