BERGEN COUNTY — The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey asked Bergen County Sheriff Michael Saudino to withdraw his request to acquire two mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles.

In a letter, the organization said the armored vehicles could lead to “increased risks of violence, property destruction and undermined civil liberties.”

The letter, signed by ACLU-NJ public policy director Ari Rosmarin, said the MRAPs are designed for use in combat war zones and that their use could lead to an unnecessary militarization of the police force.

“While the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey recognizes the dangers inherent in modern policing, the streets of Bergen County are decidedly not within a war zone,” the letter said.

ACLU-NJ also said the use of military technology would lead to officers “to approach their policing work as a battle and to consider the individuals they are meant to serve as potential enemies.”

While officials have said the vehicles would be used for high-water rescues and high-risk warrants, the ACLU-NJ said many departments expanded the use of MRAPs beyond their original intent.

Saudino has asserted that the MRAPs are not combat vehicles and won't be armed with weapons. His office is set to receive the vehicles under the federal Law Enforcement Support Office program, which converts surplus military vehicles for civilian use and donates them to law enforcement agencies. The program has given hundreds of MRAPs to local police in recent months.

“Unlike other similar vehicles in this County, this vehicle can save civilian lives as it can operate in high-water rescues in up to 7 feet of water," Saudino said in a previous statement. "Of course, it will further serve the core functions that our armored vehicle previous served. These are not combat vehicles as some have falsely claimed.”

A sheriff's spokesman said his office had not yet received the ACLU's letter and did not have an immediate comment Thursday afternoon.

The move has become an issue in the race for county executive between Republican incumbent Kathe Donovan and Democratic Freeholder James Tedesco. Tedesco and the Democratic majority on the Board of Chosen Freeholders approved the acquisition of the vehicles.

Donovan said Thursday the ACLU raised some of the same concerns she expressed about the armored vehicles.

"I wish that the Freeholder Board would have taken the time to study and fully comprehend the financial and social repercussions of bringing this military vehicle to the streets of our communities before they voted," Donovan said in a statement.

Saudino has pointed to a range of possible emergency uses for the vehicle.

“In light of recent incidents at shopping malls, schools, and weather related disasters across the nation, it is inexcusable to play politics when it comes to public safety or officer safety,” Saudino has said. “If we can have the opportunity to properly respond to just one emergency situation with this vehicle and save lives, it will be justified.”

A post on the Donovan’s campaign website included a doctored picture of Tedesco riding on top of an MRAP in front of a barbed-wire-covered Bergen County Courthouse.