The City of Williamsport’s Bureau of Police will purchase a Lenco BearCat armored response vehicle using a state Department of Community and Economic Development grant.

Council passed a resolution authorizing the purchase, as presented by Chief Justin Ottaviano

The cost is $353,529 paid entirely through a grant sponsored by state Sen. Gene Yaw, R-Loyalsock Township, and state Rep. Jamie Flick, R-South Williamsport.

The BearCat is an armored sport-utility vehicle available because of the grant at no taxpayer cost to the city with the grant money unable to be used for any other purpose.

It will require low ongoing costs to maintain, such as oil changes, annual inspection and insurance coverage. It comes with numerous warrantees and is a vehicle that can easily last 20 to 25 years, officials said.

It is built on a truck chassis so it can be maintained in-house.

Ottaviano said it will be an upgrade to public safety as an armored vehicle that can protect civilians and first responders in incidents of high-risk situations and gives the police access to locations where other vehicles can’t.

It is not a Special Emergency Response Team vehicle, although it will be used by SERT, he said. Currently, SERT uses another non-armored transport vehicle. The BearCat will not be a replacement to that vehicle, but an addition and something the department does not possess, Ottaviano noted.

The BearCat will have multipurpose usefulness, providing protection for police in armed threats, barricaded subjects, firearms-related calls and can be used in the event of natural disasters such as floods, fires, and severe weather. Also, it can safely transport emergency medical service personnel and evacuate patients in circumstances where necessary.

Additionally, the BearCat can assist neighboring agencies with mutual aid and support should there be critical incidents.

“It gives us the ability to deploy the vehicle within minutes,” Ottaviano said. “Currently, we depend on Columbia-Montour, which takes an extended period of time and in a critical incident minutes matter,” he said.

Two members of council, Liz Miele, and Adam Yoder, wanted assurance that the vehicle will not be used for routine patrol.

Miele made her case and opinions known as the Committee of the Whole discussion and council meeting. While she said she had no strenuous objections to purchase of the vehicle, given it is covered by the grant and maintenance costs will be minimal year after year, she wanted to be assured the police department was not intending to build this into the capital projects budget and finance a new one with city funds, because she said she would very strenuously object to that.

“The majority of my concerns surrounding the vehicle … is the increasing militarization of law enforcement across the U.S. and the way that the BearCat somewhat plays into that — an image, sort of, of ‘Us against them’ when it comes to law enforcement, so I would like to encourage us as a police department to think of it, of course, as an element of providing greater safety to our officers and our citizens, but not as something we needed to deploy because we needed to protect ourselves from the people of Williamsport.”

Miele acknowledged it is a delicate balance.

“I understand that,” she said.

“I was actually somewhat maybe distressed to hear the chief say that this is something that would go out on routine calls with the police department because that isn’t the image that I want our citizens to have of Williamsport police – guys who bring big fancy pieces of equipment out and use it to kind of protect themselves from the people of Williamsport,” Miele said.

“I do want us to have it as a safety tool and I want us to have it in emergency situations and I understand the utility there,” she added.

She and Councilman Adam Yoder, formerly council president, offered additional comments regarding where and when the vehicle would be deployed, and how the city is bearing the brunt of the costs associated with SERT, commentary that Ottaviano said should be discussed but at another time because it involved a more in-depth conversation with city officials.