The spending of $303,540 on an armored vehicle for use by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office as the primary SWAT transport vehicle during critical incidents was approved by Orange County Commissioners January 24th.
The department already has a 2006 model and the US Military gives similar vehicles away for free once they're no longer in use according to the Washington Post. Also, according to a 2014 Orlando Sentinel article, "The... Leno BearCat is the same model... that sparked concerns about the increasing militarization of local law enforcement agencies across the United States."
To get approval from the Department of Justice to get one of these controlled vehicles, one of the things OCSO must prove is that this $303,540 vehicle could not borrowed from someone else as needed. OCSO said no, but in 2014 it was shown by the Orlando Sentinel that Winter Park, Kissimmee, Leesburg and St Cloud all have these vehicles.
Another requirement is that OCSO cannot have been found to be in violation of a Federal civil rights statute or programmatic term during the past three years. While these two lawsuits are not Federal in nature, they do involve Civil Rights:
OSCO also had to prove a need. In their application to the Department of Justice, OCSO used Pulse as an example and domestic and international travel as potential causes for Orlando being a "target of terrorist organizations and/or Homegrown Violent Extremists (HVE)."
They also had to show how the vehicle would be used:
The department already has a 2006 model and the US Military gives similar vehicles away for free once they're no longer in use according to the Washington Post. Also, according to a 2014 Orlando Sentinel article, "The... Leno BearCat is the same model... that sparked concerns about the increasing militarization of local law enforcement agencies across the United States."
To get approval from the Department of Justice to get one of these controlled vehicles, one of the things OCSO must prove is that this $303,540 vehicle could not borrowed from someone else as needed. OCSO said no, but in 2014 it was shown by the Orlando Sentinel that Winter Park, Kissimmee, Leesburg and St Cloud all have these vehicles.
Another requirement is that OCSO cannot have been found to be in violation of a Federal civil rights statute or programmatic term during the past three years. While these two lawsuits are not Federal in nature, they do involve Civil Rights:
- In 2014 they were sued for discrimination against a Muslim employee
- In 2013 they were sued for violation of Civil Rights through use of excessive force
- In 2009 they were sued for excessive force
OSCO also had to prove a need. In their application to the Department of Justice, OCSO used Pulse as an example and domestic and international travel as potential causes for Orlando being a "target of terrorist organizations and/or Homegrown Violent Extremists (HVE)."
They also had to show how the vehicle would be used:
- They want an updated, improved, and more reliable armored rescue vehicle which will be the primary transport vehicle for the team during critical incidents.
- OCSO believed having two of these vehicles versus just one is better for the following reasons: (1) Two armored vehicles can safely deliver the entire team if multiple critical incidents happen to be occurring simultaneously. (2) Two vehicles means one can cover/block while the other conducts an evacuation. (3) When one armored vehicle is inoperable, the other one will be available to respond to an incident requiring armored protection. (3) Two armored vehicles provide additional transport of endangered and injured law enforcement and/or civilian personnel during an incident.
This is what this vehicle looks like. It's not the exact vehicle coming to Orlando.