It looks formidable: The Burlington Police Department has a new emergency response vehicle to ferry specialized gear to scenes of crises. The $157,000 truck is a Ford F-550, girded with aluminum. It has lights to illuminate a scene, and it’s emblazoned with department logos.
But it’s meant to help officers minimize violent interactions with those they arrest, Police Chief Brandon del Pozo emphasized. The truck is not armored. “It’s a repository for all our nonlethal weapons,” he said. He compared it to “a toolbox.”
The truck will carry a winch on its front bumper and “every kind of power tool,” according to del Pozo.
It’ll also have tools that only a cop would use, such as Y-bars that allow officers to pin a violent suspect against a wall from afar. It’ll also be tricked out with water cannons, reconnaissance robots, ropes, restraints, armor, helmets, cameras and “throw phones,” which cops can give during standoffs to suspects with whom they hope to negotiate.
None of the gadgets are new for the department, but having them handy on one vehicle is. “Now we have everything we can think of, within reason, to isolate and contain volatile situations, and a way to get it all to one place quickly,” del Pozo said.
The truck will respond to a variety of calls: school shooting threats, mental health crises, execution of search warrants, said Deputy Chief Shawn Burke.
“It’s for folks in crisis,” Burke said.
The truck was in a garage at the Department of Public Works Wednesday. Following a staff training, it will hit the streets in late April, said del Pozo. Cops will need to be certified to drive the larger vehicle, he added.
The truck will be publicly unveiled at the May 16 community police barbecue, he added.
Del Pozo said he decided to purchase the vehicle after the death of Ralph “Phil” Grenon in May 2016. Police were called to Grenon’s College Street apartment after Grenon, 76, who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, yelled at and threatened neighbors. After a lengthy standoff, officers entered his apartment. When Grenon approached with knives, an officer fatally shot him.
Del Pozo said officers scrambled to get the necessary equipment to contain and communicate with Grenon. At one point, they decided to drill a hole in his wall to try to check on him with a camera. The chief was forced to fetch a power drill from his own basement, he said.
“We did everything we could do at the time, but we’re now trained and equipped to do more,” del Pozo wrote in a message to Seven Days.
Last May, the Burlington City Council unanimously approved buying the truck with the police department’s asset forfeiture fund, obtained from drug investigations.
The board of finance also approved the expenditure unanimously, after del Pozo assured Councilor Sharon Bushor (I-Ward 1) that the vehicle is for “less-than-lethal responses” and would not be used by SWAT or tactical teams, according to meeting minutes.
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Gee . . the only thing missing from this new Police toy is Ice Cream Truck music blaring from the PA and a Smiley Face on the front bumper.
But really . . water cannons? Those are for larger protests and demonstrations . . not trying to “save” a person having a mental breakdown. This looks more like the Velvet covered Fist of Neo-liberalism: Be nice, don’t get too far out of line trying to criticize or question City Hall or we’ll call the ‘Ice Cream “truck and the friendly officer will Y bar you to the wall. Just smile, go shopping ( but stay off of Church Street away from the Beautiful People unless you are one of them ), enjoy the arts, even if you can’t feed your kids or pay your uncontrolled rent to one of the Big Landlords. Otherwise we will drop the Hammer on you. But we’ll do it with love. 🙂
“Law and Order” . . ala’ Trump, Sessions. and Miro. This new Police truck is just another symbol of the insanity of modern culture.
Chief del Pozo here. The water cannons are two old-style silver bullet fire extinguishers. They are used to distract animals and people in crisis during an incident. It is very difficult to be aggressive while being sprayed. They are unsuitable for use at demonstrations.
This is an example: http://www.trianglefireinc.com/Amerex-240-…
Exactly! Delpozo are out of your mind? Why didn’t you put thing on Seven Days before you bought it? You need that truck to carry those fire extinguishers? You IDIOT!
“Law and Order” . . ala’ Trump, Sessions. and Miro. This new Police truck is just another symbol of the insanity of modern culture.
This is how BPD handles people in crisis during an incident.
A Burlington police officer fatally shot a 49-year-old man in the New North End yesterday evening after his mother called police to report that he had been acting irrationally, authorities said.
Wayne Brunette, a longtime Burlington resident, was killed two minutes after two police officers arrived at the home he shared with his parents on Randy Lane, in a quiet neighborhood tucked behind the Lyman Hunt Middle School, police said.
Brunette approached the officers in a threatening manner, while holding a long-handled pointed spade shovel,” Vermont State Police Major Glenn Hall said at a late morning press conference inside the Burlington police station.
Is this some publicity stunt for Super Troopers 2 perhaps?
Why didn’t you put that thing in the news before you bought it!
Are you flipping out of your mind del Pozo? I can’t believe this!
TAKE IT BACK!
Oh BTW
this is how BPD handles people in crisis during an incident.
A Burlington police officer fatally shot a 49-year-old man in the New North End yesterday evening after his mother called police to report that he had been acting irrationally, authorities said.
Wayne Brunette, a longtime Burlington resident, was killed two minutes after two police officers arrived at the home he shared with his parents on Randy Lane, in a quiet neighborhood tucked behind the Lyman Hunt Middle School, police said.
Brunette approached the officers in a threatening manner, while holding a long-handled pointed spade shovel,” Vermont State Police Major Glenn Hall said at a late morning press conference inside the Burlington police station.
Corporal Ethan Thibault, a 12-year-veteran, fired his .40 caliber Glock, killing Brunette. It was the first time Burlington police have fired their weapons at someone since 1997.
I applaud the focus on non-lethal intervention. We’re all well-served by removing lethality from decisions made at one moment in time. Nice work, BPD!
“The board of finance also approved the expenditure unanimously, after del Pozo assured Councilor Sharon Bushor (I-Ward 1) that the vehicle is for “less-than-lethal responses” and would not be used by SWAT or tactical teams, according to meeting minutes.”
I just love clowns such as Sharon Bushor who demand public promises that cops – who exist to protect each and every one of us from lunatics and thugs – will be soft, cuddly Teddy Bears when we need them in a critical situation..
What I want to know from Sharon Bushor is, if you God forbid find yourself the victim of some lunatic with a gun demanding your money, or worse, will you assure everyone that you will insist that the cops show up unarmed when -you dial 911?
How in creation can Sharon Bushor – if she is of sound mind – exact a promise from the police that they won’t use this truck for “lethal force,” or that a SWAT or tactical team won’t use it?
That’s what I define as insanity.
The only thing worse, perhaps, is the police chief giving an elected city official (his boss, ultimately) an assurance that a police vehicle will not be used for, uh, exactly what cops should do if they are confronted with a threat that is manageable only with lethal force or a gun-toting, sharp-shooting team, or both.
Let cops be cops. They do a great job when they are allowed to, uh, do their duty protecting each and every one of us – including Sharon Bushor.
Sharon Bushor: remember, if you ever need the cops in a critical situation, don’t forget that they gave you a promise they may go soft. No guns, no SWAT. Do you feel comfortable with that policy? I look forward to your attempt at an answer.