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25 www.officer.com April 2014 Law Enforcement Technology SPECIALIZED VEHICLES of the perimeter with ballistic protec- tion. They then drove the new armored vehicle over the embankment, cleared the ground by less than one inch and backed it right up to the building. Lamb remembers, "The shield team went in and we were able to coordinate and get those innocent civilians safely out of their apartments into our armed vehicle. We got them out of there." From bread truck to beast Years ago, a police department's desig- nated 'SWAT vehicle' likely would not withstand .50 rounds or traverse steep embankments like it was nothing. These earlier mobile task masters didn't have much in the way of ballistic protection, heavy-duty tires or shooting platforms. Rather, they were usually glorified vans—16-passenger "raid vans" or "bread trucks" that could fit twelve or so people inside. Chris Amon, special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, is currently assigned to ATF public affairs but is also a part- time crisis negotiator assigned to the Washington D.C. special response team. "Like most SWAT teams, when situa- tions rise to a higher level, that's when we call in the SRT," says Amon. For example, to serve a high-risk warrant or to arrest a suspect with a propensity for exceptional violence. Amon's team depends on the added protection armed vehicles offer in his role of negotiator. "My role is to ensure that I can open a line of communication with the sus- pect. And you can't do that if you're worried about bullets whizzing over your head. "From ATF's point of view, we go after the worst of the worst criminal," says Amon. The team's near 17,000- pound, 16-passenger BearCat provides security at least up until the point when officers get up, get out of the vehicle and head to the door. The real steel It's no small investment. Lenco armored vehicles on display at SHOT Show in January were priced around $225,000. "I don't know what the gas tank holds, but I know it gets 3 to 4 miles to the gallon," Lamb recalls his officers had to stop for gas more than a few times when they picked up the vehicle and made their way from Massachusetts to Wisconsin. Lenco's BearCat, the same vehicle used by Amon and Fond du Lac PD, is built in Pittsfield in the hills of Western Massachusetts. Lenco cut its teeth manufacturing armored bank, cash and transit trucks, as well as up-armored tac- tical vehicles for forces in Latin America and Europe. They switched exclusively to the U.S. law enforcement market in the late nineties. Normal bank trucks have a fairly modest armor rating; traditionally they will withstand 9mm handguns. Today the company's Bear and BearCat mod- els are known for their armor protec- tion. "A lot of the armor on the bank trucks is the same material we would use on our bench seats today" says Lenny Light, Lenco's vice president and general manager. Lenco uses Mil- Spec military-grade steel on all of its vehicles. Every piece of steel is shipped to Aberdeen, Maryland and tested to ensure it meets U.S. Army require- ments. Both glass and steel are designed to withstand .50 caliber rounds. In the vest industry, NIJ regulates At left: Manchester New Hampshire State Police with LencoÕs Bear. Inset: LencoÕs BombCat with elevated thermal image camera Photos courtesy of Lenco LET_24-28_CoverArmoredVehicles0414.indd 25 3/20/14 2:04 PM