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The assault vehicle, to be bought with drug forfeiture money, has periscopes, gun ports and can cross rivers and resist landmines.More cops or tank for Detroit?
$743,000 would be better spent by the ailing Police Department on hiring officers, union says.
Tanks for the new cop car
Do you feel safer knowing the Detroit Police Department is buying a $753,000 urban assault vehicle?
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The Commander, made by GPV Inc.Features of the GPV urban assault vehicle
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DETROIT -- The Detroit Police Department, on the heels of a decision to lay off 150 officers, wants to buy a $743,000 urban assault vehicle that can traverse rivers, is resistant to landmines and is equipped with periscopes.
The Detroit City Council is expected today to approve purchasing "The Commander" general-purpose vehicle for use in executing drug raids. It also could be used in case of a terrorist attack or a natural disaster.
The vehicle is to be bought with drug forfeiture money, cash that also can be used to hire narcotics-dedicated personnel and equipment, department spokesman James Tate said.
"It's a real step up from what we had," he said.
Still, some question whether the cash-strapped city can afford to spend so much on a vehicle while it's laying off police officers and slashing other programs. It costs around $70,000 a year to keep one officer on the street.
"This is all about priorities," said Detroit Police Officers Association President Marty Bandemer. He criticized the purchase, saying the department should be looking at ways to hire more cops rather than buy expensive equipment.
"The city decided to lay off 150 cops, and this is how they decided to spend their money. They just aren't thinking," he said.
As part of the department's restructuring, a number of lieutenants will be promoted to commander and get immediate pay boosts, Bandemer said. "These are all examples of how the department doesn't put a value on street cops."
Last month, Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings, who once commanded the Strategic Response Unit that will use the vehicle, announced a restructuring of the Police Department expected to save the city $43 million.
Drug forfeiture money is used primarily for equipment and vehicles. In certain circumstances it can be used for officers to help "fight the war on drugs," Tate said.
The vehicle will replace an aging Strategic Response Team vehicle, Tate said. "It's more cost-effective to get a new one. The old one they don't even make anymore."
The new vehicle, according to a description on the General Purpose Vehicles LLC Web site, has a 150-gallon gas tank, comes with between seven and 11 periscopes, heat-detecting thermal imaging fiber optics and is built in a way that can deflect the blast from a large antitank mine.
Tate said the vehicle will also allow Detroit cops to process evidence on-scene.
A smaller version, which has four wheels, is called "The Sentry," and the largest version, "The General," has 10 wheels.
Additional gun ports may be installed on the vehicle hull to dispense tear gas or less lethal rounds as necessary.
The six-wheel vehicle is sold by GPV in New Haven, located at 26 Mile and Gratiot, which includes among its clients the U.S. military, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Venezuela, Thailand, Indonesia and Colombia.
"This is really a great vehicle," said James LeBlanc, chief executive officer of the company. "It's like a shoe that does it for all missions."
This is the third Commander that has been sold, LeBlanc said, with the others going to Oakland County and Knox County in Tennessee.
Detroit is the first major city to buy one of the vehicles, LeBlanc said, and added that the Michigan State Police are looking into buying one.
GPV recently loaned two of the vehicles to New Orleans at the request of local law enforcement to help out during the hurricane cleanup, LeBlanc said.
You can reach David Josar at (313) 222-2073 or djosar@detnews.com.
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