Moorestown Police Department May Get Large Battlefield Vehicle To Combat Gunmen, Natural Disasters

Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles were common place on battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan from 2007-2012, but one such vehicle may be coming to Moorestown soon through a Department of Defense program that provides military equipment to local municipalities.

The Moorestown Police Department hopes to get an MRAP, designed specifically to withstand improvised explosive devices and ambushes, on loan for no charge from the Department of Defense.

The particular vehicle the police department is looking at is a Navistar MaxxPro Dash, a lighter, more mobile MRAP vehicle that runs on diesel fuel, Lt. Lee Lieber said on Tuesday.

The value of the vehicle is about $800,000, and it must be returned when the Township is finished using it, Lieber said.

If the Township were to obtain the vehicle, it would be used for active shooter situations and natural disasters, such as Superstorm Sandy.

Lieber pointed to the incident Monday morning at Shields Business Solutions, in which an employee shot a co-worker four times before turning the gun on himself.

While the shooter took his own life and police wouldn’t have needed the vehicle, the situation could’ve turned out much differently.

“While we would be happy if we would never have to use such a vehicle, you can’t bury your head in the sand and not be prepared,” said Lieber, who said the vehicle could’ve been used “to protect officers in their response as well as recover and evacuate victims safely.”

“With exposures like the Moorestown Mall and surrounding shopping areas, Lockheed Martin, and the Navy Ship we need to be able to safely get in and save potential victims,” Lieber said. “The vehicle would also be used more regularly in times of disaster such as Superstorm Sandy and heavy snow where we have had times when even our 4 wheel drive vehicles could not get to help residents in need. This vehicle would be able to negotiate heavy snow, deep flooding, and fallen trees.”

The idea of using such vehicles in natural disaster situations is not new to the state.

Monmouth and Ocean counties have received a combined $5.3 million in military equipment through the surplus program since 2006, with local police departments obtaining the equipment strictly for use in natural disaster situations, according to the Asbury Park Press. In total, New Jersey police departments have taken in $8.8 million in equipment through the program.

However, while the of the police department’s desire to obtain an MRAP was discussed at a council meeting the very night of the shooting at Shields Business Solutions, it also comes at a time when the public is becoming wary of a militarized police force.

As the Washington Post wrote in August, the nation was “aghast and angered” by a police force that looked like it belonged on a battlefield rather than the streets of Ferguson, Missouri as it dealt with mostly peaceful protesters in the aftermath of a grand jury’s decision not to indict police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown last summer.

The responding officers in that situation were dressed in militarized riot gear, and used tear gas and assault weapons.

The whole nation is on guard, and residents may be wary of receiving equipment through a program that also issues helicopters, grenade launchers and military-grade rifles to local police departments, according to the APP report.

Lieber said the police department will go out of its way to reassure residents the vehicle will only be used for the safety and protection of the people of Moorestown, and the surrounding areas, if the need arises.

“If we do receive a vehicle, we intend to proactively introduce it to the residents for its defensive and disaster recovery capabilities,” Lieber said. “We would take it to area schools to let teachers and students become familiar with it and its use, utilize it at parades, Touch a Truck presentations, business groups, etc. The vehicle will be presented and be used for purely defensive/disaster recovery operations.”

He said the MRAP would be kept in a secure location, and that Township engineers would be able to conduct maintenance work on it.

Moorestown already has a similar vehicle, a 1998 Ford Van donated to the Township by Shield Business Solutions in 2005. That vehicle has reached the end of its useful mechanical life, and the MRAP would be an upgrade.

The current van is lightly armored and only rated for handgun ammunition.

“Historically, active shooter incidents have involved subjects utilizing rifles that would penetrate the present vans shell,” Lieber said. “The DOD vehicle is rated for more than we would likely encounter but would stop anything we would encounter.”

It also wouldn’t be the first time Moorestown has pursued equipment through the surplus program.

Moorestown obtained surplus M-16 rifles in the past, but those rifles were returned when the department purchased its own rifles, Lieber said.

The police department has not applied for the vehicle at this point. It has proposed the possibility to Township Council, which discussed the issue Monday night.

“We need to pay upkeep on the van we have, but at no cost (for the new vehicle), the upkeep will pay for itself,” Mayor Victoria Napolitano said.

“We are proactive,” Councilwoman Stacey Jordan said. “This would help with things like Sandy. … If something does happen, I think being proactive is a good thing.”

Council as a whole seemed to support the police department’s desire to pursue the vehicle, but at least one resident voiced his concerns.

One resident raised concerns that the MRAP would use a lot of gas, and the vehicle “looks like Baghdad.”

Lieber said the MRAP can reach about 45 miles per hour, comparable to the speed of a Township dump truck. He also said the police department would paint the MRAP so it looks less like a military vehicle.

Another resident supported the police department’s position, saying the world is a different place than the one she grew up in, referencing threats from ISIL and the growing frequency of natural disasters and saying she would have no problem with it as long as it wasn’t used for the wrong purposes.

“Not too long ago we would never have thought we would have to go up against military grade weapons like M-16 and AK-47 that are almost commonplace now,” Lieber said. “We have to be able to at least meet and hopefully exceed the bad guys capabilities to counter their threats as they present themselves. The DOD vehicle will give us as close to 100 percent protection as possible to both officers and victims while being evacuated.”

There is no deadline to apply for equipment through the surplus program, and some municipalities have been waiting about three years for some vehicles and equipment, Lieber said.

The department can apply through New Jersey State Police, pending Council approval.

The attached images of the MRAP were provided by Moorestown Police.

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